Journey Into the Inferno
by FelgrandDragon
Summary: If you ever had someone important stolen from you, what would you do to get them back? When both Ichigo and Moka both have all their closest friends kidnapped they must team up to survive a journey through the Hell of 'The Divine Comedy'. Comparing my writing to others, I've considered dropping the rating to T.
1. Prologue

Demon's Hell Run

**Hello everyone! welcome to my first ever fanfiction story. This my first time publishing any of my artistic work so if their are problems, I'm sorry and do let me know. I welcome reviews for opinions and interests, but no hazing please. I hope you enjoy the opening act.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or Rosario + Vampire and the main story location is based off 'The Divine Comedy'.**

"Through me the way to the city of woe, through me the way to everlasting pain, through me the way among the lost. Justice moved my maker on high. Divine power made me, wisdom supreme, and primal love. Before me nothing was but things eternal, and I endure eternally. Abandon all hope ye who enter here."

-The gates of hell 'The Divine Comedy'

**Prologue**

**The Ninth Circle – Lake Cocytus**

It's cold.

This is the first thought to come to mind when one observes this place, followed immediately by how dark it has suddenly become. The farthest point in the entire of the universe from the light and warmth of life, this is the land of treachery. A frozen lake of ice where a biting wind blows ceaselessly across a barren plain, reaching all the way to the jagged shores where icy spike pillars sprout up like some demented forest of ice trees. Other than the wind shrieking in the open there is nothing but silence, for none who reside in this place have strength to move or speak. They are forever sealed away in ice from the cycle of life and death as their punishment for their betrayal. If you dare to enter this place and possess the will to challenge the wind and the cold to follow to its source, you will find something even more terrible than the frozen silence of this world. At the heart of this lake, submerged up to his waist in Lake Cocytus, is the massive form of the ruler of this dark world, the king of hell: Lucifer. Twice the size of the largest known giant with two sets of massive charcoal black bat wings, once graceful and white now beat out the endless wind that freezes over the heart of hell. He hunches over the lake delivering the greatest of punishments for the worst traitors by continuously devouring those poor bastards with his three terrifying, horned heads, each bearing the mark of the devil and glowing eerily between luminescent goat-like eyes, full of demonic cunning. He has physically remained like this since his inception, with only a brief respite during the Dark Ages when he broke free of the chains of Judacca. However, he was immediately recaptured by a human who passed through this place on a pilgrimage through the realms of the afterlife. Now both of the arms of the Prince of Lies have been frozen right into the lake itself, never to be free or attempt escape again; left only to steam and brew with contained rage over the humiliation of his latest defeat.

And so it has been for over 800 years. Nothing has disturbed this cold realm, but the next one to enter this place will set in motion the events that will change the realms of the afterlife forever.

"Who is there?" spoke Lucifer as he looked up with his six eyes over the dark landscape. He had not felt the presence until it was almost before him, something that should not have been possible. _I am the ruler of Hell, no one moves without me knowing!_

"Come forth O small soul, so I may decide if I should devour your essence or not," commanded Lucifer with a mild compulsion in his voice in an attempt to draw out the unknown presence.

Out of the darker shadows came a clocked figure, slim and fairly tall, but not much larger than an average human. No other details could be discerned as he wore a long cloak of midnight black that enshrouded him all the way to his toes and covered his face completed in a deep hood.

"I would consider myself more valuable to you than your personal snack, after all, if you started eating me you will no longer have a mouth to talk with. And you know it's not a good habit to talk with your mouth full," the stranger said. Then, ten tiny candle studs were lit with a wave of his concealed hand in a sudden flash. The ten that made up the points of the pentagram star on the ground which made up the hidden magic circle to open the gate to the kingdom of purgatory.

This little action surprised Lucifer. _How did he summon down fire in the ninth circle!? How did he know where the gate was?_ "It appears you are not some dammed soul that Minos misplaced like an idiot, but why should I not consider just devouring you and savor listening to your delicious screams," cooed Lucifer in an attempt to draw the newcomer close enough to recognize him or her. After all it must be someone he knows who was attempting to trick him to gain some of his power. _This is Hell after all, we're all backstabbers and cutthroats out get each other here_.

"I am here to grant your dearest wish," the stranger replied.

"And what would that be?"

"To be free," whispered the stranger.

Lucifer froze in shock.

"I can release you from your prison so you may unleash your wrath upon the earth and heavens." The stranger spoke, growing in volume until he seemed to be speaking to an invisible audience listening to his conviction. "I know that since your defeat at the hands of that pitiful human Dante, you have lost hope to escape your eternal torment. To have come so close to renewing the great war, only to be foiled right at the moment of truth by the simple act of forgiveness."

The stranger began to walk around Lucifer's huge bulk, "Now you have been bound by the power of repentance, stronger than the divine chains of Judecca" he continued. "I know how to free you completely from this prison." He paused and turned to face the devil's scrutinizing eyes, "and all I need from you is your assistance in acquiring the necessary materials."

"So, you would use my power to free me," mused Lucifer. "For what purpose would you do this? What is it that you want? A deal, perhaps?"

"I wish to unleash you upon all those soft creatures of the light. For too long they have controlled the reins of creation, with us forever trapped under their sway, and not one of them with any real power. Remind them that we, of the darkness, will always control existence from beyond the reach of the light," said the stranger.

"So what is it that you need from me?" replied Lucifer. _I will play his game for now and if he succeeds I'll finally have my revenge, and if not, well, there is always room here for one more soul._

"The help of your legions, in particular your archdevils," proudly spoke the stranger.

"Why them?" asked Lucifer.

"I will need them for acquiring the power to break the ice. The power you need exists in the world of the living and it will not be taken easily," the stranger laughed as if it was obvious.

_Insolent fool! No one laughs at me! _"Oh really? Well, I will humor you and all of your request, take who you need and return to me hence forth, but cross me, and I you will find yourself face deep in ice" Lucifer spoke smoothly with a hint of humor. _Let us see if you can impress me again._

Kneeling down, the stranger replied with sudden reverence, "thank you for your generosity. I will return like a conquering king with the keys to the kingdom in my hand." Then without pause, the stranger rose up and walked out of the candle light. Immediately the candles went out, returning the lake to its absolute darkness.

_This will be interesting to watch unfold. I do believe that my interest in the affairs of the world has returned, _thought Lucifer as he returned to his former position in the ice. _I do hope he returns. The taste of such an interesting soul is probably quite savory._ Lucifer began chuckling to himself as he withdrew into himself so to release his shadow form and once more "walk" among his subjects.

**Unknown Location, Hell**

The mysterious stranger suddenly appeared, and would have shocked anyone with his sudden presence, or would have if they could see him. The place he had appeared was pure darkness, not even silhouettes of darker shapes could be seen. However, the stranger was not alone, even the least aware person could not miss the haunting feeling of being watched. It was quite an unsettling feeling, like one's seventh sense for danger going insane, mixed with the unexplainable knowledge that whatever was out there was very, very old and full of malice. This place may not have a cold wind blowing through it, but that presence would cause anyone to feel so many chills going up their spine they would have felt colder than being in the ninth circle.

The stranger however, did not feel uncomfortable at all; in fact you could say he felt like he had come home. "I have returned my brethren, and I bring good news: Lucifer has decided to support our plan," said the stranger.

"Does… he … suspect… anything?" rasped an ancient voice out from the dark, no louder than a whisper, but still with enough strength to silence any crowd.

"No, he believes that I have found the tools to release him from his prison of ice and flesh" said the stranger.

"Pray…he…doesn't…" another voice cracked weakly.

"We…need…" rasped another.

"Hush my masters; you are still too weak to speak. I will ensure that all goes according to plan," soothed the stranger.

"Yes…soon…" rasped another voice.

"Soon…we…shall…rise" replied the first voice drawing out to a near rumble.

Then, silence returned like a blanket to cover the darkness. _Rest my masters, _thought the stranger, _rest and remember your old selves. Soon we shall become strong again, and at long last we shall restore our old glory and the universe will bow and serve us once more. _He turned on a heel to begin his mission, the swishing revealing just enough of his face to catch a flash of purple eyes that were laced with black and silver slit pupils. Then he was gone, off to start the chain of events that would spark the greatest conflict to envelope Hell since Dante's journey.

End of Chapter…

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**This is just the opening act, more chapters will come later. I know none of the cast have appeared yet, but they will starting in chapter 1. I don't know when the next chapter will be posted due to the start of the new semester, but I will continue.**


	2. Chapter 1 - Rise of the Demon

**The long wait is over, I have finally compelete the first chapter. For those of you who have marked this story as worth following I thank you for your interest. I hope you all are pleased with this chapter.**

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**Chapter 1 – Rise of the Demon**

**-School Grounds, Yokai Academy- **

It was another beautiful afternoon, with a warm breeze still lingering from the end of summer; most of the trees still had green leaves. It was a perfect sight for the end of a school day and no one at Yokai Academy could wait for classes to end. Most were already out the front doors and into the school grounds before the final bell had even finished ringing. Everything looked like just another nice day for students starting up another semester of school, but if you looked carefully enough you couldn't help but notice some strange occurrences.

The most obvious was the school itself: modernized gothic architecture that gave off the vibe of an old European cathedral, with one wondering if Halloween had come early. The grounds looked like something out of the old black-and-white horror movies with tall, barren trees and the occasional cemetery here and there.

And then there were the students themselves, fairly normal in appearance, what you would expect for a Japanese high school student body to look like. However, take a second look and you would notice a few had scaly skin around the neck, or the one girl who happened to have a neck four feet long, or that one poor kid who couldn't cover up the fact that he had a third eye in the middle of his forehead. Yes, this is not your typical high school, even by foreigner standards. No, this is a special school for monsters!

The academy was specially created by the Yokai, or monsters by other names, in an attempt to integrate them into an ever growing human society. It was on this fine afternoon that powerful forces, beyond even that of the creatures of legend and myth, began to move.

Focusing on the many cheerful groups exiting the school, you can't help but notice one group of individuals attracting everyone's attention, even in a school where appearance is an illusion. The person leading this group in particular was someone who would turn heads no matter where she went. Her name was Moka Akashiya, a girl that definitely embodied the look of cuteness with long pink hair, green eyes, and a great figure and personality that made her the number one most popular student at the academy.

"Hey! Hurry up, you're going to miss all the great sunshine" said Kurumu.

"Alright, we're coming" replied Moka.

Walking right beside her were two more major popular girls of the school: Kurumu Kurono and Mizore Shirayuki. Kurumu was the type of girl most high school guys dream of, with sparkly, sleek ice blue hair tied up in a large ponytail, a cute face, and a very well-endowed figure that just screamed a popular girl. On the other hand, Mizore was one of the more quiet types, with short cut hair of a purplish hue and dressed in her own special style of the school uniform.

"I'm so glad that today's over, math class was particularly brutal!" said Kurumu.

"Well, you do space out during class. That could be why," replied Mizore.

"No matter. I only care about being out in the great weather with my Destined One," Kurumu said lovingly as turning to face the group, only to get an ice kunai in the forehead.

"No way, he's mine boob-woman, and I won't give him up!" Mizore retorted and quickly grabbed the boy near her, only to have a frying pan fall from the sky suddenly and hit her over the head as a large dishpan hit Kurumu at the same time.

"Both of you won't touch him, he's mine and Moka-san's" proudly spoke Yukari, the little witch genius of the school, who apparently had a strange love interest wanting both Moka and Tsukune together, along with herself (even though she was only twelve). This challenge brought Kurumu down upon the slim girl and trapping her in a headlock, and knocking her pointed hat off as they wrestled, dragging Mizore in, as well; into another of their battles that eventually degraded into them trying to grab Tsukune first.

Now the important boy in question, Tsukune Aono, was unfortunately sandwiched between all four of these girls and desperately trying (and hopelessly failing) to keep them from pulling him apart. The most interesting feature to note about him was the fact that he looked just like your normal teenage boy, not someone who would expect to be popular with the girls. Still, his kind nature and loyalty to his friends brought this unique group together.

"Please girls, I don't want to get pulled apart here!"

This kind of situation tended to happen a lot around him ever since he had come to this school and suddenly began making close friends after a lifetime of being alone. The craziest part was that all these cute girls were actually monsters. It was the group's little secret that Tsukune was actually a human who had enrolled by accident, but it didn't matter and didn't stop them from all fighting over him.

"Geez, do you guys ever stop, and onee-sama why do you still let them beat you at something so trivial?" asked Kokoa tiredly as she approached the group. Out of their entire family, Kokoa was the only one who was close to Moka and actually looked like her sister, only their hair differed where Kokoa's was bright orange and in pigtails. She had just recently enrolled at the school and was struggling with the fact that her sister acted like a softy around these people.

"I-i-it's not trivial" Moka said a little too quickly, "Tsukune is someone . . . very important to me." She wished she could actually say that she liked him but still she didn't have the courage to say it.

"Anyway, we need to hurry, Ruby-san said she got the afternoon off so she could join us at the garden and we never get to see her these days," pleaded Yukari.

"Yeah, so stop sucker-punching and come on," yelled the orange hair girl, hoping to bring her sister to her senses.

And with that they hurried off for a long afternoon of fun and work on new stories for their next newspaper club issue.

-**Evening- **

**Near the girl's dorm**

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow, Tsukune," said Moka happily.

"Yeah, goodnight" replied Tsukune as he walked off to his dorm.

Moka slowly walked back towards the dorms, her mind slightly somber. _I really wish I could just say it, that I've fallen for him, but I just can't seem to find the words. _It had been over a year now since she had first met Tsukune after almost running him over with her bike.

After that first meeting, they had formed quite a bond, even after she told him she was a vampire and discovered that he was human, especially considering her bad past experiences with human schools. But they had grown to care about one another enough for him to stay and in time they made even more friends, including two witches, a succubus, and the schools only snow women.

It wasn't all fun and games though; in a school where survival of the fittest is the norm it's not easy for a human to survive. Tsukune had been hurt many times and even almost died once or twice, requiring Moka to give him some of her blood to keep him alive. The end result almost turned him into a ghoul, a mindless beast that exists to fight until it is slain. Now only the holy seal lock on his right arm, given to him by the headmaster, kept his new power under control. Even after he had gain some success with using that blood to fight against the Anti-thesis group, who had tried to expose the school to the human world last year, Moka still felt guilt from putting him in such a predicament.

_At least he seems okay, I just hope nothing more happens to him, _thought Moka as she walked up to the second story dorms. _I just wish I could just say it. Could that guilt be what's stopping me? _"If it is, I'll just have to try really hard tomorrow to say how I feel," she decided with conviction. With her newly focused confidence Moka walked the rest of the way to her room, excited about tomorrow.

Suddenly, there was a massive crash at the far end of the hallway as half the windows shattered and the lights suddenly went out. This caused quite a panic with plenty of screams, but Moka remained quiet. She had become unable to scream as she alone noticed the something that had broken the glass. It was not the outline shape that stopped her, but rather the power leaking out of it; it felt unusual and disturbingly evil. The shape slowly stood up and appeared to look at her with interest.

"Yes, this one will do nicely, just the right power we need," the shape rasped as if it was talking through reeds.

"Who are you?" asked Moka, almost shaking now and trying to suppress the urge to run.

"Yesss, where are my manners? I am Beelzebub, the lord of the avarice. And you my dear are my next meal." With sudden, rapid movements he was almost on top of her.

With speed she didn't know she had, Moka spun off her heels and smashed right through the window behind her, smoothly landing on her feet among the shattered pieces of glass. Then she broke into a mad dash towards the forest edge.

_With luck I can draw whoever that guy is away from the dorms . . . and Tsukune. _Moka raced on; suddenly she heard the sound of many feet following at a rapid pace. _Strange, I thought there was only one guy?_ She quickly turned around and was quiet startled by what she saw: a dozen or so cloaked figures with glowing red eyes, each carrying a nasty-looking scythe. All of them with a power presence stronger than anything she had felt before.

_Oh no, more weird monsters and these look like death_. Knowing she would not outrun them she turned and stood her ground, ready for anything, desperately hoping someone would notice her in trouble. "Please, Tsukune help me!" she cried in a sudden panic, realizing she would have no chance against strong opponents with her powers sealed.

Out of nowhere one of the hooded figures went flying and was impaled onto a tree, unmoving. All the other monsters turned in surprise, no mortal had ever put one of their own down so fast. Standing there was Tsukune, but his eyes were red slits registering that he was using his vampire blood.

"Don't touch her!" he roared, even making some of the figures back down.

"Yeah, don't you even think of touching my sister you grim reaper wannabes!" Shouted Kokoa as she smashed her bat-hammer down on the head of another hooded figure.

"I won't let you hurt my friends," Ruby swore as she flew in from above on crow wings, blasting the remaining monsters with vines shooting out of the ground.

The group quickly got back-to-back as the enemy began to draw in close, raising scythes in unison challenge.

"It's time these freaks faced a really fighter" said Tsukune as he reached to remove the rosary hanging around Moka's neck. With the cross pulling away easily in Tsukune's hand, Moka's inner self released. Her hair turned white and her eyes glowed red showing the true power of an S class monster.

"So, you believed me to be easy prey did you? Well I'm afraid you have chosen poorly" said Moka as she turned to face the shrouded figures remaining. "Know your place!" And with one strong high kick she sent two of the figures on her right flying like rage dolls.

A short distance away the strange shape that had called itself Beelzebub watched in fascination. _So this is the power that our master needs, the new upstart might just be helpful after all. _And with that thought he rushed forward, finally leaving the shadows.

-**Elsewhere-**

On the other side of the girl's dorm the rest of the gang had regrouped and now were facing another group of sinister-looking cloaked figures. They seemed to multiply as one went down another would appear more vicious then the last.

"Man, these guys are tough. Just what kind of monster are they?" yelled Yukari as she attempted again to summon more falling kitchenware upon the closet one, but with little success. A frying pan, a collapsible chair, a sink; they all simply bounced off. Then she dropped a massive spiked chain ball and it went down like a ton of bricks. "Oh, well that worked," she said, surprised.

"Keep focused, we need to beat these guys or we won't be able to help Tsukune" yelled as Kurumu shifted to her true form with bat wings and long claws and took to the air.

"Time to show off all that training we did under Gin during the summer," whispered Mizore as she followed Kurumu on the ground, creating ice claws around her fingers.

Kurumu launched from above and used her illusion ability to confuse the hooded figures into thinking she was in three places. Too busy looking up, Mizore charged in and started freezing the demons, by the time they realized what was happening half of their numbers were frozen while Kurumu used her claws to reduce the rest to a quivering pile of fabric.

"Yeah, these guys aren't all that tough" cheered Kurumu with the feeling of victory near.

"Oh, so you're having fun with my little servants?"

Out from behind a nearby tree a handsome looking gentleman approached. He had long jet black hair that was left loose behind him; he wore a long royal blue cloak over some very impressive armor that looked like something royal knights in Europe would have worn. Although he wore a friendly expression, it was his eyes that gave him away as they glowed an eerie blue that seemed to suck all the light out of the nearby area and gave him the look of a living nightmare.

"So you're the one who attacked the dormitory?" asked Mizore already taking a defensive position next to Kurumu.

"No, that was actually my comrade; he never did have any real manners. My name is Azazel one of the watchmen and the ones around you are known as death reapers, servants of death that acquire doomed souls from the land of the living."

"So why are you attacking us? We aren't dead" yelled Kurumu in anger.

"No, but that is exactly why we need you. Your powers are useless if you're dead" Azazel replied smoothly.

_Our power_ thought Mizore, "Why do you need that?"

"I'm afraid that is not of your concern and I have a tight schedule to keep" said Azazel as he released his wings, which were like a doves but midnight black, and snapped his fingers.

With speed faster than anyone could follow, one of the death reapers charged at Yukari, and with one rapid swing of its scythe cut her in half. Then in that same moment she vanished.

"Yukari" Screamed Kurumu and Mizore together. "What did you do to her" Kurumu screamed at Azazel.

"Yes, I forgot to mention, a death reaper's scythe has the ability to banish souls instantly to hell. Sadly they can't control where they end up, but at least it makes this step much quicker."

"You bastard" shrieked Kurumu forgetting everything and charging straight at Azazel in an attempt to gore his eyes out.

"So young, so powerful, yet so naïve" mused Azazel. As if by command, one of the reapers threw its scythe to Azazel and with incredible precision, he spun away from Kurumu's attack and slit her across her right side as she flew by. With a sudden scream of pain Kurumu started gushing blood and then vanished as she fell.

"No…" moaned Mizore as she watched her friend vanish and in her shock dropped her guard and the last death reapers raced in for the kill.

"You're going to pay" she screamed letting the lollypop fall out of her mouth and with more speed then she knew she had formed massive claws on her hands that were double their normal size and spun with focused rage. Drawing upon the cold within her and with every slash she froze them right down to their molecules, wiping out the remaining death reapers in a matter of seconds.

Appearing out of nowhere Azazel whispered in Mizore's ear. "Impressive strength, I can see why our guide said your group was the strongest source of yokai energy."

Too shocked to react, Mizore just stood there as Azazel cleaved her in two vertically. "Don't worry, I'm sending you to your friend. You might even see her again" said Azazel as she vanished. "But unlikely" he mocked.

"I guess I should see how Beel is doing, hopefully he hasn't eaten all the targets" contemplated Azazel as he began to walk towards the other side of the building where the sound of fighting continued.

-**Girls Dorm's, North Side-**

The fight was turning in yokai group's favor as both Inner Moka and Tsukune were practically throwing their opponents all over the place. Two death reapers looked at each other with the facial expression of total disbelief as comrades flew by in rapid succession, then the vampire was on them and they had no time to scream. That was when the shadow near the building moved.

Moka looked behind her as she crushed another enemy a good meter into the ground. "So, you have finally decided to face me" she mocked as the new arrival approached. Her smirk however, vanished and was replaced by bizarre shock and horror as the figure left the shadows and entered the moonlight. _What the hell is he!? I never seen a monster this disturbing, _thought Moka.

The beast (the only word that could define him) was not in a human form; in fact it didn't look humanoid or bipedal for that matter. Standing on two pairs of legs and over three meters in height was a monster that defined the very definition of the word. The upper part of its body seemed be nothing but many segmented arms and numerous mouths each one housing three sets of razor-sharp teeth that looked like they should have been in a shark's mouth. Its skin was electric blue and strangely, considering its many extra body parts, it only had one set of eyes, but they were the size of a small saucers, ruby red, and obviously compound, insect-like.

"Ohhh, so many strong sources of power, it makes my mouths water," rasped Beelzebub sounding like a swarm of locus.

"Humph, all I sense is an overgrown bug to squish," scoffed Moka as she regained her composure and smashed in the face of another death reaper without looking away.

"Realllly? Well, let us see if you can even step on me" roared Beelzebub and grabbed the last five hooded figures; ripping their scythes away and making them vanish in whiffs of smoke.

"He just killed his underlings!" exclaimed Kokoa in surprise.

"Ha! they wish. I only sent them back to hell. The same place I'm sending you," laughed the giant bug and he began twirling the scythes he had picked up until he had five razor-sharp blades spinning in a solid blur. Then he charged. Moka evaded, Tsukune rolled under him, and Ruby went high, but Kokoa held her ground. She changed her hammer into a massive sword and met the charge, blocking all the scythes.

"You're not all that tough, I might even crush you under my shoe before onee-sama gets a chance" mocked Kokoa.

"Ohhh, but you forget your blindside" cooed Beelzebub and in a flash he swapped his fifth scythe through the hands on his back and before anyone could react, jabbed the scythe over himself and into Kokoa's head.

"Kokoa" screamed Moka. Quickly she charged towards them, trying to reach her sister as she fell backwards and seem as if to disintegrate. Ducking past Beelzebub as he turned toward the others, she caught her sister as the last of her vanished.

"Onee…sama" Kokoa moaned just as she disappeared. Shaking with rage and grief Moka stood up and let all her yokai energy leak out. "You will pay for killing my sister," she spoke menacingly. Everyone froze and Tsukune shivered, even wrapped in the power of the ghoul. _I never felt Moka-san unleash so much power; I can't believe this guy isn't running for it, _thought Tsukune as he turned to face the monstrous bug.

"Welllll nowww, I seem to have struck a nerve. Let us see if I can get you to make more of that lovely emotion" rasped Beelzebub and simultaneously, threw one scythe at Ruby faster than she could fly away, hitting her dead center, and kicked Tsukune off his feet with one leg. He then sliced Tsukune with the last three scythes into around five pieces. All Tsukune could do as his ghoul power left him was stare at Ruby as she vanished above him. _Damn it, I wasn't strong enough. Please… Moka…run…please…run…_thought Tsukune as his body slide apart in a gush of blood and vanished.

"NOOOO, TSUKUNEEE" screamed Moka in pure horror as the last parts of Tsukune vanished. _This…this can't be real. My friends, Tsukune... their all gone and I couldn't do anything._ Moka was screaming in her head, dropping to her knees in shock, uncaring as the monster that had done it all approached, blades dripping with blood.

"Ahhh, I was hoping for some more fire. How about thissss? They aren't dead" said Beelzebub.

Moka froze in surprise, "what?"

"These scythe are funny little tools, they only banishhh souls not kill" he informed. "But it doesn't matter, you'll join them soooon." He raised his scythes over Moka's head.

"Enough Beel, we have what we need and extra" boomed a new voice and the shape of Azazel formed near the Archdevil.

"Awww, come on Azazel, I was having so much fun. I love it when they rage and scream."

"We have caused enough disturbances, any more attention and we'll be fighting them" said Azazel as he pointed up.

"Alright, but stop calling me Beel. It makes me sound childish."

"But you are, Beel" snickered Azazel as he flew off towards the portal to the human world.

"You bastard" roared Beel (stop that!) as he scuttled off after his comrade.

Moka was left where she was still shaking, but now with shock and hope. _They aren't dead. I can still save them, I can save Tsukune! _The thought charged into Moka's mind and drove away the shock, allowing her to get to her feet. _I won't let them get away until I know where they took Tsukune and the others, and then I'll put them in their place._ She ran off as fast as she could and pursued the two Archdevils who dared to steal her friends.

End Chapter…

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**Now with the opening gambit begun the story only gets better from here. The next chapter we're going to step back a little and introduce Ichigo and his friends. Please write reviews so I know how people feel about this story.**


	3. Chapter 2 - Souls Burned to Ashes

**Alright, I've finally got the next chapter completed. Now Ichigo takes center stage, the enemy has begun to reveal itself. **

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**Chapter 2 – Souls Burned to Ashes**

**-Late Afternoon- Karakura Town**

The sun had already fallen behind the houses, casting long shadows. The last rays of golden orange sunlight gleamed over the quiet streets where the young man with bright orange hair walked. Ichigo Kurosaki slowly walked down the familiar streets on the way home after another long day of school. It had been a nice day at school and the best part had been that not a single hollow had appeared; in fact not a single hollow had shown up in Karakura Town for days now. The funny thing was Ichigo was actually depressed about this, he knew he should feel glad about not having to deal with any soul reaper related problems, but he wasn't.

"Man, what is wrong with me? You'd think I would be glad not to have to fight since Aizen got locked up," Ichigo moaned. Yep, he was officially bored out of his mind.

It had been almost a full year since that faithful night when a lone shinigami following a hollow, walked through the wall of his bedroom, and was kicked by Ichigo in the back of the head. The shinigami, or soul reaper, was Rukia Kuchiki and during their first meeting the hollow attacked Ichigo's family. During the middle of the fight, Rukia was injured and the only way to slay the hollow was for Ichigo to become a soul reaper, which he chose to do without a second thought. Unexpectedly though his spiritual power caused Rukia to lose all of her powers, making Ichigo a full soul reaper who could wield a zanpakuto that was a large as he was.

From that point on Ichigo suddenly found his whole perspective of the world turned upside down. Sure, he had always seen ghosts, but now he was fighting hollows (giant monsters that were really souls that had lost their center), and was soon clashing with the Soul Society. From there, things only got crazier. Within a period of six months, he gained soul reaper powers, lost them, got them back, learned his zanpakuto's name, mastered bankai (a soul reaper's ultimate power), discovered he had hollow powers, learned to control a hollow mask, and finally mastered the final release form of his zanpakuto. His rate of growth was beyond anything ever seen before, but in part he had been spurred on by many enemies.

His visit to the Soul Society had also exposed a massive conspiracy surrounding Rukia's execution for giving him his powers. Aizen, one of the captains of the Soul Society, was discovered, not only to have been a traitor who was secretly looking for a way to become greater than any shinigami or a hollow, but also planned to destroy all of Karakura Town so he could create a key to enter the spirit king's domain and kill him. Why do you ask? Because he believed that if one has the power to change the foundations of the universe, he should.

_I still can't believe that bastard _thought Ichigo as he reached the street where his house was, _he nearly killed Rukia, kidnapped Orihime, threatened the lives of my friends, all because he could._

"Well, at least I took him down in the end."

_It's been five months since that day but it still gives me nightmares thinking about what would've happen if Urahara's sealing hadn't worked,_ he mused as he opened the door to the Kurosaki Clinic.

"Now at long last there've been no major conflicts and I've gotten re-" he quickly ducked down low as a large dark shape flew at him.

"WELCOME HOME ICHI-" yelled Isshian Kurosaki as he flew towards Ichigo, but was cut off quickly with a sudden mid-air leg kick to the ribs, as Ichigo flipped onto his back and sent his old man spinning a good inch into the wall.

"Ugh, honestly dad you never learn" Ichigo stood up, unsure if his old man was still conscious. "You're never going to beat me, so cut it out already!"

"…yes…kick…good" Isshian almost blacked out.

"Jeez, I can see why you retired."

"Hi Ichigo, I'm glad you're back. Dinner's almost ready" said the young girl sweetly with short dirty-blond hair and wearing an apron.

"Okay Yuzu. I'll just drop my bag off" Ichigo replied to his sister.

"Oh, I almost forgot. Ichigo, Rukia came by this afternoon" Yuzu continued. "She said she was doing some patrolling this evening so she wanted to let you know and then headed off to Orihime's place."

"Right, I'll go visit them after dinner. It'll give me something to do."

He took two steps, and then side-stepped and swung his book bag into Isshian's face with a distinct crunching noise as he attempted a sneak attack, who immediately crashed to the ground unmoving.

"Well, at least your strength hasn't weakened over the last month. Goat chin still can't lay a hand on you" said Kairn dryly as she walked over to the now unconscious man twitching on the floor.

He headed upstairs to drop off his book bag. _Yuzu and Karin seem to have finally come to terms with all that's happened, along with the recent attack on the town._ After he had used final Getsuga Tensho to overcome Aizen he had decided to tell everyone the truth about what had been going on.

It was also at this point, because he had used the final Getsuga, he would lose all his spiritual powers. At first it seemed he really had given up all his powers, and then the unexpected happened. A few days after he had recovered from the end of the Winter War; he was surprised to find his sword Zengetsu standing upright in the ally next to his house in its bankai form. When he retrieved it he heard Zengetsu's voice: _you're quite the crazy one Ichigo, you fought so hard to gain all that power and at your peak you threw it away to take out one guy. It seems however, that fate does not feel we should give up. I was somehow able to keep my consensus together so I could reform myself. I'm warning you though, we barely have any strength right now and it'll take a while to get it back. Don't do anything stupid from now on, okay._

"Yeah, such thing Zengetsu, the problem is there hasn't been anything happening to actually get myself into trouble with" mumbled Ichigo to himself.

Still, all this down time had allowed him to start recovering his spiritual powers. He could now reach bankai again and all his normal shinigami abilities were restored, but he was nowhere near his strongest. That said, his powers placed him somewhere just above a captain's level and no hollow could hope to cope with that.

He opened the door to his room and dropped his bag on the desk and sat down on his bed. Then he noticed that things seemed a little too quiet. "Hey Kon, come out already it's me" said Ichigo gruffly. No response.

"Great, I bet he ran off again to be with Rukia. That stupid stuffed animal is going to get himself in trouble one of these days if he keeps walking around like this." He laid down looking up at the ceiling, never realizing just how true his words would become later.

-**Karakura High School-**

The last rays of light receded from the school grounds as a small stuffed animal lion sneaked through the front gate.

"Stupid Ichigo, leaving me alone all day, constantly having to hide from the monster (aka Yuzu), and now Rukia is back and you hog up all of nee-san's time," whined Kon as he hurried to the front doors. "This time though, I'm going to be the one with Rukia and finally show her my complete devotion." He started fanaticizing about Rukia hugging him and saying how happy she was to see him followed by Orihime crushing him to her chest. "Ahh yeah."

"Are you sure they were here?"

"Huh?" said Kon as he heard a voice from the top of the school.

"Of course I'm sure, you just had to be the lazy bitch and make us late. Now they've already left."

"Oh please, you were so busy trying to make that gigai look pretty _you_ made us late."

"Hey! I could take you any day slut."

"Sure, if it doesn't mess up your skin."

"Gerrr…"

The voices belonged to two figures standing on the roof of the school looking out toward the city. One was obviously female, Kon could definitely tell from her incredible size cleavage and slim figure. _I bet they're even bigger than Orithime's! _This was impressive to Kon since he never thought someone could top his idol.

The other figure with the bitchy attitude was male, but other than that it was hard to identify (no breasts). He did however have a serious twitch, like he wasn't in full control of his body. The thing that made Kon suddenly wary however, was the spiritual pressure coming from these two. It was huge, but more importantly, full of malevolence that felt like a thick sludge. Whatever these two were after, it was not good.

"So what do we do now?" asked the male.

"My favorite pastime: soul hunting. And I think we'll send the death reapers to that Ichigo brat first, he's got the most power of the lot" replied the female.

_Crap! These guys are after Ichigo, which usually means that they're after Rukia and Orihime too! I've gotta warn them!_ He turned and started to head for the gate at top speed.

The woman noticed a small shadow headed out of the school groups. "It appears we had a visitor. I'll go meet him" she said.

Kon had only gotten about ten feet outside the gate before a large shape landed in front of him. "Well, well what do we have here? It appears someone's teddy bear ran away from home" the woman said seductively. "You should know little one, it's not safe to be alone outside in the dark" she continued maliciously as she approached. "You never know what might crawl out of the shadows."

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Screamed Kon in terrified panic, knowing very well what was probably in store for him: pain, lots of it.

And that was the last sound Kon made that night.

-**Kurosaki Clinic-**

Ichigo paused as he looked up from cleaning the table from dinner. _Strange, I could have sworn that I heard a high girly scream._

"Hurry up Ichigo, are you zoning out?" asked Yuzu who was washing dishes.

"Oh, sorry. Here are the last plates."

Setting the plates on the counter he headed towards the stairs. "Ok, I'm going over to Orihime's place now to see how their doing."

"Try not to be too late tonight, it might be a weekend but I don't want you useless tomorrow" Yuzu said worriedly.

"Right, right. There probably won't be any hollows even out tonight."

He started up the stairs to go retrieve his shinigami badge. _That sound earlier was probably nothing, but I do wonder what happened to that perverted mod soul. _He was about to open the door to his room when he heard a sudden explosion downstairs that shook the whole house, then followed by a terrified scream from Yuzu.

"What the?! What happened" yelled Ichigo as he tore down the stairs skipping the last three in a jump. Standing up from landing in a squat he took a look around the living room. What he saw gave him a slight sensation of Déjà vu: the front of the house had a huge hole in the wall opening out onto the street; wood splinters and dust covered everything, and something terrifying was attacking his family again. The change this time (other than his old man being unconscious during the middle of the attack) was that it was not a hollow going for his sisters, rather some strange cloaked figures all carrying long scythes.

"Hey! Who the hell are you guys!" yelled Ichigo in rage.

One of the figures turned toward him, a pair of glowing red eyes and a white toothed grin stared back. It opened its mouth and let off a giggling laugh and charged with its scythe raised high.

Ichigo smoothly dodged the swing and returned with a solid punch to the freak's face, sending it flying out the hole his partners had made, and an inch into the wall on the other side of the street.

Any laughing the creatures were making stopped in surprise. They knew their target was a soul reaper, but there was nothing about a human who could actually hurt them. Instantly, six pairs of angry eyes turned in unison to the orange-haired teen. "Get the hell away from my sisters" he roared as he shifted his stance to a more combative pose.

All the death reapers charged at once, just what Ichigo wanted. He side-stepped the first two, evading their swings, punched the third one from behind into the floorboards, and charged up the stairs. Thinking their prey was running, the death reapers regrouped and glided up the stairs, craving the blood-bath to come. Suddenly, a flash occurred at the first door on the landing, followed by an explosion knocking all the hooded demons back down to the first floor. Standing on the top stair was Ichigo, but his clothes had changed: he now wore a black kimono with a white in-shirt and a red strap across his chest holding a sword to his back. Reaching back, the wrapping covering the blade uncoiled revealing the sword, and what a sword it was; a massive cleaver-like blade that was as long as he was tall and a good two feet at its widest point.

"I don't know what you guys are, or why you're here, but when you attack my family you are asking to get destroyed," Ichigo yelled addressing them and blasted off the landing and into the group. He effectively cut the one still stuck in the floor and the guy at the front of the pack in one swipe before any of them could react. The remaining reapers jumped back, one went to the left and another went right in an attempt to encircle him. Grabbing the loose wrapping off the handle Ichigo released his blade and started swinging it like a chain mace, catching two more reapers and reducing them to black vapor. The fifth reaper swung its blade at Ichigo's side, but Ichigo had already retracted his blade and blocked with a scrapping of metal. A flick of the wrist and his blade slipped past the reaper's thin blade and sliced right through its side, cutting it in thirds.

The last death reaper had finally come to the conclusion that they had no chance against this powerhouse. It turned and fled out the hole they had made and reached his slowly recovering fellow reaper.

"Must flee. No chance. Must run," it spoke to its comrade in the crackly voice.

"Sorry punk, you don't get to retreat," Ichigo had appeared in front of them with his classic frown on his face.

"Getsuga Tensho!" A massive wave of spiritual power in the form of a massive blade strike of blue energy crashed into the reapers, effectively obliterating them. The attack left a huge gash in the ground a good meter deep and no remains of the death reapers.

Quickly Ichigo returned to the house and checked on his old man (still out cold, I wonder if he's been out all evening) and walked over to his siblings. "Yuzu, Kairn. Are you two alright?"

"Y-yeah Ichigo we're alright" replied Yuzu shakily.

"Well, they didn't have much of a chance, especially with you bringing the walls down around them" Kairn mentioned in a dry tone looking at the deep gouges in the walls.

Ichigo had the care to at least look shocked at the damage. _Crap! I've got to not fight in the house in soul reaper form._ He walked over to the remains of one hooded figure as it faded away. _What were those things? They looked like what you would expect soul reapers to look like with a name like that. _Then he thought of something worrisome: what if he wasn't the only one attacked?

"Yuzu, Kairn. I'm going out to check up on the others. There's a good chance that they've been attacked by these freaks too.

"Ok, be careful" whispered Yuzu.

With a shift of movement Ichigo disappeared in a flash as he raced towards Orihime's place, hoping nothing had happened to them. Knowing his luck, that was very unlikely.

End Chapter…

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**I hope all you Bleach fans liked this chapter, I tried to make Ichigo as accurate as possible. Next chapter will have his friends enter the fight with mixed results, and later, Moka shall return to continue her chase. Please review as much as you want, any ideas or support is appreciated.**


	4. Chapter 3 - Kindred Souls

**Your long wait is over, here is the next chapter. Things are finally heating up, several fights and clashes between characters. Enjoy!**

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**Chapter 3 – Kindred Souls**

**-Karakura Town, Chad's house-**

BOOM! An explosion rocked the nearby homes as the wall of one house blew apart with the force of a freight train. Wood and stone flew everywhere as the smoking remains of what looked like a cloak fluttered out into the street. Standing just inside the massive hole was the shape of an amazingly tall and muscular person. He had dark skin and a mop of untamed hair that covered his face, suggesting he was not entirely of Asian descent. The really unusual feature however was that his right arm was covered in some sort of armor, black and white in color with the shape of a heater shield covering the full length of his arm. The explosion that had just occurred came from the mouth apparatus in the middle of the shield, leveling the death reaper and wall behind it.

Sado "Chad" Yasutora had been just coming home from the nearby quick-mart when he had detected the presence of several shadows following him. He had decided to wait until they got close and when he reached the door to his apartment the shadows charged. In a flash, Chad had spun around and released his right arm as he swung it at the first person. His arm fully changed as it made contact with the robed figure, sending it flying into the others, creating a classic comical heap.

Charging through the door, Chad slammed it behind him, and waited for them to enter. He didn't have to wait long as their anger from being outsmarted drove them to bloodlust. The first death reaper charged in with its wicked-looking scythe slashing at anything in reach.

"EL DIRECTO!"

A huge blast of condensed spiritual power in the shape of a blue flame impacted with such force that even after incinerating the remains of the reaper it continued to blast right through the wall. Now with a pause in the battle, Chad walked out the hole he had made and observed his opponents: some twenty in all. He secretly smiled to himself considering that he had this many enemies and not one made a move in fear of his attack. _I guess I have gotten stronger,_ he thought as he released his left arm into its first stage, which turned his arm white.

He charged in with a battle cry and was surrounded as the battle recommenced, explosions rocking the night as bodies flew everywhere.

-**Orihime's House-**

"Huh? What was that" Rukia spoke suddenly after feeling a sudden vibration go through the house. She headed over to the window and looked out in an attempt to figure out where the shake had come from.

Orihime just continued to sit next to her dining room table with a confused look on her face. "Did you hear something Kuchiki-san?"

"No, I felt a sudden movement that shook the house."

"Oh, well it was probably an earthquake."

"What's that?" Rukia gave her a questioning look. Being from the Soul Society where everything was made of spirit energy they never had the ground shake abruptly.

"Don't worry, it happens all the time" Orihime dismissed the problem. She was more focused on getting to catch up with Rukia since she had started coming to patrol again after Ichigo had regained his powers. After the end of the Winter War, Ichigo had given up all his spiritual power and it seemed the Rukia was hit the hardest, becuase he couldn't sense spirits anymore she became invisible to him. She had been away for several months before finally coming back after learning about Ichigo's return to soul reaper status and Orihime wanted to reconnect.

"Well I don't like it. For some reason I've been getting a weird vibe all night that something's going on," said Rukia as she reached in her skirt pocket for the soul candy. "I'm going to go on out ahead and check to see if everything is ok. You'll let Ichigo know if he comes by alright?"

"Ye-yeah, of course, but before you go, you want to share some ice cr-" Orihime started to say but was cut off suddenly by a massive wave of spiritual pressure coming from the direction of school.

"What was that?" asked Orihime in shock. Only Ichigo had ever had power levels that huge, but the feeling was of someone or something she didn't recognize.

"Right, now I know something didn't feel right tonight. Wait here, I'll check it out" Rukia jumped out the window and into the street, swallowing the soul pill as she landed. Instantly her shinigami form left her gigai and the super-sweet personality of her soul candy took over.

"Hang on, I'm coming too. Ichigo might be over there already," yelled Orihime as she also jumped out the window and joined Rukia.

"Alright, but stay with Chappy so you don't get hurt" grumbled Rukia, worrying about putting her friend in danger. "Keep close to her."

"Righty-o Rukia-chan," replied the artificial soul in its overly friendly voice.

And off they went never realizing that they were being followed by several tall shadows.

-**Elsewhere-**

Uryu Ishida stood atop a lamppost on a street that headed towards Tokyo Tower. He had been out patrolling the local area for hollows as he usual did ever since the fight with Aizen had left Ichigo powerless. He took great pride in overtaking the soul reaper with his Quincy powers for once and planned on keeping his head start as Ichigo worked to reclaim his lost powers.

However, tonight's patrol had become quiet troubling; if it were hollows that would've been easy, but the spiritual power resonating over the town was unknown.

_Strange, _he thought, _there's a lot of spiritual power being thrown around tonight. I recognized Ichigo's power exploding a few minutes ago, then Chad's spiked near his house, now I sense Rukia and Orihime on the move, but what is confusing is the other presences I'm picking up. The main one is made up of a lot of individuals that feel like twisted soul reapers. _The soul ribbons for the strangers had a weird violet-red color that was laced with black.

_The other two souls I'm picking up are faint; I can barely detect them, which is more troubling since it means they can mask their presence. _The soul ribbons of these two were barely six centimeters wide, more like streamers than ribbons. One was a dark pink with a black swirl pattern going through the middle; the other was a poisonous green color that had a jagged black zigzag going through it.

"Considering that these two are unusual soul ribbons they are most likely the leaders of the newcomers. I think I'll go properly greet them." And off he went as he flash-stepped toward the direction of his school.

-**Near the east side of the city graveyard-**

Ichigo was charging ahead like a man fired from a cannon. He had not slowed down since leaving home and only increased his pace after meeting several more death reapers. Not even slowing down he whipped his sword out and chopped them down before they could even react. It didn't calm his nerves knowing that these fiends were everywhere and probably attacking his friends.

He cleared the far side of the cemetery and landed in the middle of the street where several dozen death reapers had grouped together and as one charged from all directions. Ichigo replied in kind by charging right into the group in front of him, swinging his sword like a man possessed.

"Hang on guys I'm coming!"

-**Chad's house-**

Five minutes in and the bastards were not letting up. Chad had taking down a least ten reapers (evidence in the form a massive craters with skull and body-shaped indents) but the survivors seem to only get more driven to chop him up.

"LA MUERTE" another massive blast impacted the ground from his left arm taking two more down. _Damn, they just don't quit, _he was starting to breath heavily.

"Well well, you're putting up quite a fight. I can see why our master asked us to carry out this job" said a seductive feminine voice.

Looking up, Chad saw a strange women floating in the air with a pair of massive bat wings. The most obvious detail he noticed about her was that she had the figure of the perfect supermodel and that she was barely wearing anything; just a skimpy bikini bottom and knee-length high heels with a corset that barely held her breast in place. She had curled horns on her head, long raven black hair that blew in some unfelt wind, and had an air about her that made you want to do anything for her. All you wanted to do was grovel at her feet and please her every whim.

Wait, where did that last bit come from? Shaking himself, Chad refocused on the women and noticed her eyes: an eerie red color that drew him in like a lure. That was it; whoever she was she could manipulate minds.

He repositioned his stance to get ready to jump in case she attacked. "Who are you?" he asked in his calm deep voice.

"Impressive, you evaded my charming. I must give you credit, not many mortals have ever resisted my seduction" she fainted surprise and hurt. "However, my lord has commanded me to acquire you and your friends" she glided down among the death reapers.

"Death reapers may be useless when fighting anything other than a human but they make great servants." One of the reapers threw her a scythe and the pack encircled the two fighters. "Now then, I would ask if you would like the easy or hard way, but I can see you're a man who does it the hard way, just my type."

Chad stood his ground and prepared for the clash. This was going to be one long night.

-**East side of Karakura High School-**

A sudden shift of movement and Uryu appeared in his classic white Quincy uniform atop the school wall. He noticed that one of the strange spirit pressures had moved and only one remained, if he hadn't been so good at tracking spirit pressure he never would have known it was still here.

He jumped down onto the open courtyard and began to walk towards the front entrance. With each step, his sense of foreboding grew in intensity until his instinct to run almost drove out all other thoughts. Shaking, Uyru reached up to his face and pushed his glasses up, which strangely took a lot of effort.

_What is wrong with me? I can barely keep from shaking and I've never felt this much fear ever. _He was almost within arms-length of the double-doors. He felt his body getting ready to run, but then he thought of Ichigo and all the times he never gave up. Though he would never admit it to the orange-hair idiot, it helped restore his confidence enough to stop shaking and draw out his Quincy bow, a bright blue glowing weapon that looked like a cross between a longbow with a spider web in the middle.

"I know you are there, I am Uryu Ishida and I am the last Quincy. If you value your existence and have no evil intent then reveal yourself" he spoke out into the darkness.

Silence only replied.

"Very well then, I'll come to you." He raised his bow and kicked open the front doors and charged into the lobby. What greeted him was only darkness, so dark he couldn't see anything.

"You should have trusted your instincts little soul," rumbled a massive voice that seemed to come from everywhere.

"Where are you coward" yelled Uryu spinning around with his bow pointing in each direction.

"Where am I? I'm everywhere! Ha, ha, ha, ha," mocked the voice.

Uryu turned towards the doors again, but they were not doors anymore. The glass was suddenly cracking as the doorframes bent and warped. Then they gave way in an explosion of glass and in place of the doors were a giant set of fanged teeth. Realizing too late what he was looking at, Uryu sped for the opening madly shooting more arrows then he ever had before, trying to slow the behemoth down. The arrows had no effect, flipping a few emergency canisters of condensed spirit energy everywhere did seem to stall the beast. The teeth had almost closed and he was about to make it out, but then the ground shifted rapidly and flipped him back into the abyss. Too late he realized he had been running on its tongue.

"Damn iiiitttt" was all he could say as he fell into the dark abyss.

Outside a ripple like a mirage covered the majority of the school, revealing a massive body that coiled around the school like a monstrous python. The scales were vivid green, reflecting the shine of the setting sun like fire. A long black frill traveled along the top of its back in sharp crests and ended at a set of withered bat wings that seemed too small to carry its bulk. The top half was humanoid with roped muscles covering large clawed arms pushing off the ground as they supported the head, which had long matted black hair that covered one of its dull blue eyes that looked like they were weeping with envy. The front doors had been cleverly disguised as his mouth where he had aligned himself to catch any foolish mortals tracking them.

"Well that went easy enough, I wonder if the bitch will do as well. Or maybe I'll have to show her how pathetic she really is." The mighty Leviathan grinned to himself as he began uncoiling from the school and headed towards the next delicious aura of spirit energy.

-**Several Blocks Away**-

Orihime and Rukia had covered enough distance that they could see the school, only to recoil in shocked horror at the sight of a massive snake-like thing rising up from the school and heading in their direction.

"Uh, Rukia" asked Orihime nervously. "W-what is that?"

Rukia reached for her Zanpakuto, "I don't know, it looks like a hollow of the menos class but my hollow tracker would have altered me to something _that_ big." She glanced back and noticed that her gigai had gotten left behind.

"So what do we do? Wait for Ichigo and the others?" asked Orihime.

"No, you die" replied a ragged and cracked voice from behind them.

The two girls spun around and stood in horror as strange hooded figures began to come out of the shadows, literally.

"Great. This is bad. Get ready Orihime. Dance Sode no Shirayuki!" Drawing her sword and spinning it in front of her. It released her shikai and it transformed into a beautiful white sword. Orihime reached for her five-pointed flower hairpins, holding up bangs of orange hair, ready to release. The creepy demons floated toward them, scythes raised, evil red eyes craving the feast to come, and in the background the giant Archdevil slowly floated towards them.

-**Chad's House**-

The fight had reached a standoff; Chad was starting to really feel the drain from the fight with cuts and scrapes all over the place from dodging the attacks, while the woman still hadn't landed a single blow and had to avoid Chad's attacks or get crushed.

Now they simply stood, staring at each other, waiting for the slightest flicker of weakness to strike at. The moment stretched to a minute, then two. The tension was becoming too insane to bare. Darkening shadows became more dominate with the final rays of sunlight slipped behind the high walls. Then an explosion to the left broke the silence as two figures flew through the air and landed next to Chad.

Chad was surprised to see the two girls covered in stone dust and scrapes. "Rukia, Orihime what happen to you two?" he asked as he crouched down.

"We were attacked by some unknown spirits. And then some giant lizard came out of nowhere and fired a massive blast," groaned Rukia as she fought to stay awake.

"Lizard! That's insulting you little midget." The massive demon slithered over to the opening in the wall it had made between buildings. "I am the great Leviathan, a mighty Archdevil, not some puny reptile!" he roared as flames shot out of his mouth between blackened fangs.

"Yeah, just keep telling yourself that. Honestly, you're too worried about your title," replied the women across from Chad with a sigh.

"Shut your slutty mouth Lilith, like you could ever beat me!"

"Yeah, well there's no point in beating a giant snake!"

"Why you, I am not a limbless beast!"

"True, but you are spineless."

The two continued to bicker; apparently they did this a lot, especially with the profanity coming out as it went on. Rukia and Chad were both sweat dropping in awkward confusion over how their enemies had seem to have forgotten them. Even the reapers seemed to be at a loss of what to do.

Finally, Orihime woke up, "I felt Ishida's spirit power drop a few minutes ago, what happen to him?" she asked as she open her eyes.

Leviathan broke off from the argument and looked at her. "Oh, that brave little Quincy in white? Well, he was delicious."

"What?" the three said in shock at this, that's when Lilith smirked and went for the opening made by Chad's surprised shock. At the last second he blocked the attack with his left arm, but missed Lilith's other hand as it swung with a scythe she was holding and chopped his right arm off.

Chad screamed in pain as blood gushed out, but then he started to fade and simply vanish right before Rukia's and Orihime's stunned eyes, not even the spilled blood remained.

"What did you do to him!" demanded Rukia as she stood up and pointed her sword at the smirking women.

"Well my dear, he was cut with a death scythe. These weapons are used by the death reapers to harvest souls. Whatever they cut is banished directly to Hell."

Orihime could only stared in horror at where her friend had just been. "Why?" she whispered.

"Our master has demanded that we acquire souls with substantial spiritual power. And your friend fit perfectly, as does that guy with the stupid orange hair," mocked Leviathan.

_What, they're after Ichigo! _Orihime's mind was starting to go into a panic, remembering back to when everyone got hurt trying to save her from Heuco Mundo. _No, they can't have Ichigo. I won't let them get hurt again, not after all we went through._ She got up and stood next to Rukia, readying her hairpins. "You will not hurt Ichigo, I swear you won't."

"Ah, she still can fight. Lots of spirit, I can't wait to see what makes you squirm the most," smiled Lilith as she took out a whip from her side holster. "Let us see how much fun we can have my dears."

Rukia suddenly charged forward to get close to the female demon, but was swatted away by Leviathan from the side with a flick of his tail that was a hard as an oak. She crashed hard into the stone wall, the wind knocked out of her and she even coughed up some blood.

"Hey Lilith, don't hog all the fun. The other guy went down too easy, I want some hot blooded chicks" growled the other devil.

"Fine, just don't throw them out of range." Lilith slowly walked towards Orihime as the girl released her powers and raised a triangular shield.

-**Elsewhere**-

At this point Ichigo was starting to really get angry. He had sensed both Uryu's and Chad's spirit pressures simply disappear; now Rukia's seemed to be fading. His friends were in for the fight for their lives and he still hadn't reached them. Finally after reaching a fork in the road he saw them. The two devils had cornered Orihime who was only holding them back with her shield as the big one pounded away against it, and Rukia was just starting to rise as the remaining death reapers were closing in for the kill.

Ichigo's fear and rage mixed into one thought and one action. He had to save them, so he charged all his power into Zengstu and aimed for the death reapers.

"Getsuga Tensho!" The attacked blasted into the crowd and immediately destroyed all the reapers and startled the archdevils, stopping the attack for a moment. Lilith looked up at him, and smiled like it was her birthday. "Ah, Ichigo Kurosaki the famous substitute soul reaper of Karakura Town. I was wondering when you would show up. How did you like your guests tonight?"

"Shut up! Are you the ones who attacked my friends and family" he asked angrily.

"Yes, and you all have been wonderful hosts for us. I haven't had this much fun in centuries."

"You dare hurt my friends" Ichigo quietly began, his spiritual pressure slowly rising. "You almost killed my sisters" his levels stared to make the air feel heavy. "And now you are trying to act like it's fun? Neither of you are leaving here in once piece." He reached out with his sword and clasped his left hand over his right shoulder. "BANKAI" a massive explosion burst around Ichigo creating a swirling storm. It dissipated and Ichigo appeared in new shinigami robes with the top half becoming a close-cut jacket that ended in a long raged cloak with red lining. His sword changed from its giant form into a jet-black katana with chain hanging off the handle.

He walked over to a still stunned Rukia and helped her get back up on her feet. "Rukia, I want you to grab Orihime and get her out of here," whispered Ichigo.

"But what about those two? Ichigo, you may have your spirit powers back, but I don't know anything about who these two are" whispered back Rukia. "They aren't hollows or soul reapers but have the power levels of at least a captain, if not higher."

"Just focus on getting yourselves out of danger, leave these two me and Zengstu." Ichigo stood up and slowly walked towards Orihime who was still behind Lilith looking for a way to Ichigo.

"Oh so that is a bankai. I always wondered what it was about it that makes those soul reapers so proud to use them," said Leviathan as he licked his chops.

"I don't know, it looks like he just changed his wardrobe outfit, I do that all the time in fights" scoffed Lilith. She almost considered changing into something more flashy right there, but didn't want anyone to faint, not yet.

Then they clashed in a sudden flash of movement. Ichigo charged Lilith as Rukia swung right and rolled under Leviathan's great coils and ran to Orihime. Blade smashed against blade in a metallic screech. Ichigo was giving everything he had trying to break through her defense, but he couldn't quite break the scythe. Lilith was just barely holding him off; never had she experienced such force from a living soul. Then she noticed a movement out of the corner of her eye, and saw the other soul reaper headed for their last target. "Deal with the little one, you giant eel," yelled Lilith, as she finally pushed back and the two fighters separated, then they flash stepped towards each other in another clash.

"Don't tell me what to do you bitch" roared Leviathan. With the speed of a viper he lunged at Rukia, his mouth aiming to swallow her whole.

"Next dance, Hakuren," calmly spoke Rukia and then created a circle with her sword just in front of her; she dipped the tip of her sword to the ground, five separate points towards Leviathan's mouth. Ice began to form at the points then the air in front of her blasted forward like a missile.

"Wha-" the area just a foot from Rukia instantly froze and entombed the creature's face, leaving the rest of him to wiggle in confusion. With that idiot out of the way, Rukia reached Orihime and helped her to her feet.

"Come on Orihime, we need to get out of here before-" Rukia started but was suddenly cut off as a curved blade stabbed her upside down, threw the heart. The other devil had tricked Ichigo with her flash step and instead of attacking went after the two girls.

"No, Rukia" Orihime screamed, tears forming in her eyes at the shock of seeing her friends die one by on.

Lilith smiled with a carnivore's pleasure as she flipped the blade behind her, causing Rukia to slip off and crash into a shocked Ichigo a few feet away. He quickly caught her, but was left to watch hopelessly as she simply vanished a second later.

"Well my dear boy, you are incredibly powerful, strong enough to challenge us, but you don't have our cunning," Lilith mocked watching his shadowed expression.

"Yo, Levi. How long are you going to lay there, grab the girl so we can get going. You've wasted enough time as it is," a new voice spoke out from above. Looking up they all saw a man with long black hair in blue and black armor and large black wings.

"Awww, Azazel you never let me have any fun," pouted Lilith trying to look cute.

Leviathan finally broke the ice around his head with a roar. He quickly regained his composure and snagged a still weeping Orihime off the street with his hand.

"Ahhh, help! Ichigo!" screamed Orihime in a panic.

"Let her go you bastard" roared Ichigo. Any doubt he might have had was completely gone and now he stared down three enemies, all capable of crushing him.

"Sorry, but we have need of her, and we're out of time to play with you so we shall take our leave," spoke Azazel calmly as if talking about the weather. Then suddenly all three flash stepped away towards the edge of town where the sun had set.

"You bastards don't think I'm letting you get away from me while you have my friends," Ichigo yelled out as he began his pursuit. Then out of nowhere a strong downward kick almost hit Ichigo in the face, only his fighting instinct got his sword up in time to block. The shock of the attack forced him to stop and the figure that attacked used his blade to jump off, spin into a perfect backflip, and land a few steps away. With his adrenaline still charging his thoughts forward, all Ichigo could focus on was the person's strange silver/white hair and glowing red eyes that stared back with malice.

"Who the heck are you?" he asked surprised.

"The one who will destroy you death reaper" replied the cold voice of a young woman.

To be continued . . .

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**A crazy cliffhanger; tension runs high, and the main characters meet at last. Next time, an major team-up and a major clash with the Archdevils.**

**Ichigo: I better not lose this next chapter or someone is going to have to go down.**

**Moka: Like you would ever win against me, know your place!**

**Ichigo: what was that!**

**FelgrandDragon: Easy you two, you'll just have wait and see for the next chapter.**


	5. Chapter 4 - The Fall of Hope

**Welcome back my dear readers, last time we had a exciting cliffhanger where the main characters finally met, now let's fine out how they react to meeting each other. **

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**Chapter 4 – The Fall of Hope**

-**Ten Miles North of Karakura Town, 30 minutes earlier-**

The traffic roared by with chaotic noise as it always does even at this late hour. The sun soundlessly set in a great show of orange rays of light and with it the coming of night, creating a great twinkling of the lights from the distant heart of Tokyo. It has become a common spectacle at night for most, shining brightly like a sea of stars in the vastness of humanity that lives here. It is around this time of night that everyone heads home from work, often stopping at local bars or the shopping district. With all the hustle of activity no one noticed a sudden strange faded light that appeared inside an abandoned tunnel near the downtown area. It had been part of the original subway system but when the city began to grow and progress with faster and more efficient trains, many old passageways were abandoned. For the creatures and races that hide in the shadows of man's civilization, it is this forgotten labyrinth that has become the perfect route to travel unoticed.

The light in the tunnel grew slightly brighter as two shapes suddenly flew out of it, scaring the rats that had strayed too close to the light. Azazel and Beelzebub had used the gateway for Yokai Academy to re-enter the human world. This old tunnel worked well as an exit site since it intersected a major ley line.

"So, explain this to me again: why are we here instead of home with our prize?" groaned Beelzebub angrily. He had been enjoying himself earlier with all the tasty prey to fight, then bird-boy had to drag him away because of business, now they were in the annoying human world. Sure, there are plenty of humans to hunt, but common, boring mortals taste like military rations: dry and unpleasant. And to add to his complaints the tunnel they were in smelled like a sewage line and he still hadn't gotten to eat anything in the last hour.

"We have to come here to regroup with the others, and if you forgot, we can only return back to our master from the human world," Azazel spoke calmly.

"Who caressss. Those idiots drive me crazy. Besidessss, they don't need help; nothing in the human world could trouble them," scoffed the giant bug. Azazel sighed in annoyance; you could tell these guys bicker a lot amongst themselves. He was too busy trying (for like the hundred-millionth time) to explain why they have to work as a 'team' to notice a small shape slip out of the portal behind them as it closed, leaving everything in darkness.

Moka had made it to the portal and caught up to them just as it closed. Landing in the inch of water that covered the bottom of the tunnel, she was about to charge in and take down both of them, but the mention of another large group gave her pause. She slipped behind an outcropping in the tunnel's wall and listened. _Hey, what's up _asked outer Moka in a troubled voice in inner moka's head. _You're not going to attack them? Normally you wouldn't even stop to consider things before going in to attack. _"This time the situation is different. They have Tsukune and we're in an unknown place in the human world," whispered inner Moka. "We're in enemy territory and more appear to be nearby."

Back to the two archdevils, Azazel was still trying to convince Beel that they needed to get the others due to some unknown trouble (someone called "strawberry"). He finally seemed to have gotten the freak to go with the chance to get to eat this person.

"Alright, fine. I'll go and save the slut and the worm, but _only_ if I get to eat somebody" said Beelzebub. And with that, they both took to the sky on wings (Beel had a pair of beetle wings, of course) leaving Moka alone to try to find a way to follow them. Now that she understood that the enemy could not escape immediately, she decided to charge after them and try to take down one of them or at least force them to confront her if they wanted to leave.

"Don't worry Tsukune, I will get you back, no matter what." And off she ran out of the tunnel and in three steps climbed the nearby slope and was sprinting down the street towards the two black shadows reflected off the city's many lights.

-**Karakura Town, present-**

Moka stood in the middle of a wreaked street, facing what appeared to be another one of those damn death reapers. It had been communicating with the other devils and was about to follow them to wherever they had headed; it was the perfect situation to catch their attention. If this one didn't follow they would notice and hopefully come back to check, and she would be waiting for them. She would show them what it meant to hurt her friends and then she would make them give back her Tsukune and the others.

She narrowed her eyes as she observed the black robbed adversary; it had blocked her initial attack where the other ones had been unable to; that and it had unique features like orange hair. "Who the heck are you?" it asked. More surprises, this one could talk.

"The one who will destroy you death reaper," she replied and clenched her fists and let her anger out along with her powers. She would beat this one into the dirt for attacking her friends.

To Ichigo, things had become more and more confusing as the night had progressed. Now, after watching Oirhime get kidnapped he had to deal with some strange girl with glowing eyes that wanted kill him, why he was not sure. He just couldn't get a break tonight, normally he would try to figure out why but he didn't have time for this.

"Look, I don't know why you're trying to kill me, but I don't have time to play with you," yelled Ichigo at the strange girl.

_Don't have time to play with you?_ Now Moka was really getting mad, this reaper didn't even consider her a threat.

"Fine then, you'll make time," she replied and suddenly charged right at Ichigo.

For a normal person this conflict would've ended right there with a kick to the face, but Ichigo had survived many battles and his fighting instincts were well-honed. He rapidly brought his sword up and used it to thrust forward at her midriff, but Moka jumped clear by going four feet into the air, then came straight down with a double kick aimed at her opponent's head. Ichigo spun around to face backwards and bring his sword straight up blocking the attack, it worked but he nearly suffered a nosebleed from seeing her panties and buckled under the pressure of the attack some. Moka used the sword as a springboard to jump toward the street wall and then plant her feet on the wall, and launched off in a corkscrew spin. Ichigo took a sec to recover and decided he couldn't get distracted by this person any longer. He shunpoed away at the last second and reappeared up above the street, leaving Moka to spin out of her attack and land on her outspread feet just before the edge of the street. She twisted on her left foot to face him as he raised his sword to attack.

"Sorry, but I have to go save my friends now." He brought up the black Katana in his hand and as he did so a huge amount of energy accumulated around it. "Getsuga Tensho!" He released his attack as a massive crescent moon wave of black energy laced with red. Moka had half a second to roll away and was just missed by a millimeter, carving a twelve-foot cavern into the ground. She then had time to realize as the dust settled what Ichigo had just said.

"What do you mean by friends," she demanded getting back up and giving him her best glare possible.

"What I mean is my friends that just got kidnapped by some giant snake and a guy that looked like a giant bug," he retorted angrily staring right back.

"Wait; was it a giant blue thing with too many arms?"

"Yeah, it was with three other monsters grouped with a bunch of hooded freaks carrying scythes. Why? You know them?"

"Those are the same monsters that stole my friends too," Moka replied surprised that this random person knew the freaks that took Tsukune.

Ichigo lowered his sword and gave the girl staring back at him a good look. She looked tired, and though her eyes showed much anger and determination, they seemed also worried. Only someone who was afraid of losing something important would have that kind of look. He shunpoed back down in front of her and gave a good stare. "I believe you, we both seem to have lost someone important that we need to get back. So how about we stop trying to kill each other and go after these guys."

"Fine, I've had enough clashing with you," scoffed Moka trying to keep her prideful appearance, and then she used her vampire speed to head off in the direction of the archdevils. _Hey Ura-chan that was not nice. He was trying to help out, no need to get all annoyed, _Inner Moka chide. Moka only sighed, having no comment to give with her thoughts elsewhere.

_Talk about a stubborn person _thought Ichigo,_ I would've helped her if she stopped acting so full of herself._ Knowing his enemy now had a huge head-start he would have to move fast. He flash stepped away, leaving the wreaked street empty and quiet. A lone figure slipped from the shadows near one of the still standing lampposts. He had a long cloak that covered him completely, leaving only glowing purple eyes showing.

"So, all the pieces are on the field and moving into place." He said quietly. Then the lamppost suddenly flicked and went out, leaving the street in total darkness.

-**Over Karakura Town-**

The four devils quickly flew along the wind at a rapid pace, they had minutes before the last possible time to open the gate or they would have to wait until tomorrow. Only the hour before and after twilight could an artificial portal be opened. The pack had almost reached the gate's access site when a sudden blur of movement came from behind them and appeared to hit Azazel in the face. Moka had jumped as hard and as fast as she could to hit the guy in the face, the real shock came when he caught her foot with one hand without apparently moving to even look back.

"Humph, annoying" Azazel said without any emotion and threw her with massive force towards the ground. Just before impact Ichigo caught her, though the force caused him to crack the ground by a good two feet.

"Are you alright?" asked Ichigo as he looked up at the four.

"You have no need to help me. I can beat these monsters on my own," She angrily replied, trying to get back up, but cringed when moving her ribs.

"Look, I can tell you're one of those very prideful types who don't like appearing to need help. Even if you could beat them, there are still four to deal with. So let me take two and you get the others." Ichigo set her down as he pulled Zengetsu back out. Moka seemed slightly surprised, a faint blush forming. If he had tried to stop her she would have punched him (maybe she still would for holding her), but he wanted to work with her. _We can trust him; he's after the same thing we are: to get our friends back_ said inner Moka trying to help her other-self decide. So Moka got back on her feet now that the ache had left and got ready to fight.

The four demons looked down on the two fighters with a mix of looks from surprise to a thirst for a fight. Lilith was the first to react with a succulent smile.

"Well, some more souls to hunt. I'm really going to enjoy claiming these two." She pulled out her whip and gave it a strong crack. She flew forward but was caught off guard by Moka's sudden appearance behind her.

"I'd like to see you try," scoffed Moka as she swung a right kick as hard as possible.

Just before connecting with Lilith's face Beelzebub swooped in and grabbed her leg, but before he could even stop grinning at getting to fight, Moka spun right in his grip and nailed him in the face with her left leg with a satisfying crunch of carapace. The force created sent him back a good ten feet, leaving Moka to land on a nearby building and side-step from Lilith's whip strike.

Ichigo had charged at the same time as Moka had and went after the other two demons. He appeared to charge for Azazel who simple floated without moving, uncaring, and then Ichigo just disappeared and reappeared, to Azazel's surprise, behind Leviathan's head. He swung his sword with all his might, giving snake-boy a massive headache as he went down like a sinking ship. Ichigo continued his advance and reached for the now unconscious form of Orihime in Leviathan's giant claw. Halfway Azazel flash-stepped in front of Ichigo and grabbed him by the head and threw him towards the nearby houses, only to get dragged along when Ichigo grabbed his arm as he got thrown. Both impacted through the wall and into a nearby office building, thankfully no one was inside. As the dust settled, both rose and faced each other with a look that would make most run in terror.

Meanwhile, Leviathan was getting really pissed off now as he pulled himself out of the rubble, only to get hit the face with Beelzebub's flying form. Moka now returned to evading Lilith's whip, cartwheeling away and jumping into a backflip, then she used her momentum to spring back up and punch the devil in the face, but was blocked by Lilith's wings shifting to a defense position. Moka flipped backwards to dodge Beel as he went for her neck with meter long claws and returned to the roof of another building, ready to launch off again.

Beelzebub continued fighting the young vampire, leaving Leviathan to finally heave his huge bulk out of the rubble of several buildings his latest falls had leveled. He felt tired of getting punched and mocked and not being able to fight, it was time to go. Holding the small female figure in his hand, he rose up and headed for the skyline. Above the towers he opened his mouth and withdrew a small orange flame.

As the two sides had clashed, in the distance the sun's very last ray of light hit the horizon and shot a ray of light between buildings and seemed to create a line across the sky where the combatants fought. Leviathan threw the flame at this line with as much force as he could, the flame impacting with a whoosh.

Then the sky just above them suddenly began to form a pattern of golden lines extending from the light, creating the outlines of a cubic nature over an area of about ten feet on each side. Then a cracking sound was heard as a fissure peeled open from the middle of the pixie pattern, revealing a great black abyss that swirled like a raging storm at night.

Azazel and Ichigo had continued to stare down the other with enough intensity you could cut the tension with a knife. However, the sudden appearance of the gate drew Azazel from the fight without effort. "We have humored them enough, our exit has arrived," spoke Azazel and he flew through the broken wall of the garage. The other demons broke off from Moka and followed their leader for the portal.

"Who said you could leave," yelled Ichigo as he charged through the plaster and dust after them with Moka jumping across rooftops right behind him. As they got closer the air seemed to increase in temperature and most color drained away to a dark grey. Moka noticed all color vanish as she ran to within a foot of the portal, leaving everything a dark hue of grey.

Suddenly, within the portal, two bright red lights appeared, then two more, followed by another four, and even two more. Ichigo realized too late as he was about to grab Azazel's robe that the red lights were eyes, five pairs of eyes of something big and angry. He considered a possible gate guardian like in the Soul Society, but they had nothing this big. Then the beast roared like the sound of shredding sheet metal and released a mammoth size fireball.

The archdevils separated and continued towards the portal, leaving Ichigo and Moka to get incinerated by the blast. Ichigo landed next to her and tried to get close to shield against the blast, knowing well that a living being could never survive this. Just before it reached them a shape suddenly appeared out of nowhere and jumped in front of the blast. It spoke some incantation and an invisible barrier formed just large enough to shield them from the attack. The collision produced a huge amount of heat and even behind the shield it felt like they were getting baked in an oven. The flames leaped past the edges and whipped past them, creating a near inferno for a good minute before finally abating. By the time Ichigo looked up he saw the portal close and reseal in a puff of golden flame. His heart sank; he had failed to rescue Orihime and now had no idea where she was.

Meanwhile, Moka got up on her knees and looked up at the stranger who had blocked the attack. He had a long duster coat of midnight black with a color matching wide-brimmed akubra hat. He carried a massive broadsword on his back with a double strap, along with a pair of handguns and a katana concealed under the duster. He was wearing a tight black shirt that had strange buckles across the front and a pair of black pants that reached to some serious-duty mountain boots. His face was partially concealed by his hat but she could make out a mane of jet-black hair and one eye that was a vivid emerald.

"Who are you?" she asked.

He turned toward her, and unexpectedly, smiled.

"I am Daikurai Isamu."

To be continued . . .

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**I have now introduced an OC character, he's going to play a major part in all of this. We'll be getting to the exciting part real soon, just one more chapter for the opening arc. For all those who are following this story, I thank you it it nice to know that someone likes this story.**

**Please, send me more reviews. For a possible incentive, if I can get twenty reviews, I'll add in a side-story for your enjoyment.**


	6. Chapter 5 - Into the Blind World

**Weclome Back Everyone! I'm sorry for the long delay, I've had four exams within the last three weeks so I had to take some time off this story to study. I know its been a long time, so this chapter is almost double its usual legnth with more action scenes for your enjoyment. For all those new followers, I weclome you to the completion of the opening arc. Please, enjoy.**

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**Chapter 5 - Into the Blind World**

**-****Karakura Town,****Urahara's Shop-**

Night had fallen completely over the quiet town, leaving a feeling of emptiness in the air like something important to the world had been lost. Tucked away a short distance from the main road was Urahara Shop, a small venue store, simple, and like most day stores, closed. However, it was far from vacant. Inside were four figures surrounding a short tea table under dimmed candlelight. Moka sat to the left of the table a short ways away from the light wrapped up in her own thoughts. The newcomer they had met in their last fight was leaning against the sliding door on the other side of the room with his face concealed by his downturned hat. And the figure on the right side of the table with a determined look on his face staring down the owner of the store was Ichigo.

Kisuke Urahara simply sat cross-legged across from Ichigo with his eyes concealed by his floppy hat and blonde hair wearing his usual attire of white pants and shirt with a black and green jacket. He took another sip of tea from his cup and looked directly at Ichigo with a rare serious look.

"Now, explain to me again. What happened to you and your friend here?" he spoke in a calm yet serious tone.

"Ok Urahara, it all started several hours ago. . ."

**-Flashback, 15 minutes earlier over Karakura Town-**

"I am Daikurai Isamu" replied the stranger with a slight smile on his face.

He had a sudden surprise when a hand suddenly grabbed the front of his shirt and he was pulled toward a very angry-looking Ichigo. "Who the hell are you!? And where did those freaks take Orihime!"

"I am a friend who would like to help you" replied Daikurai bringing his hands up in a defensive manner.

"I don't buy it. How do I know you're not another one of those monsters trying to catch us off guard" yelled Ichigo in Daikurai's face.

"Well, I don't really have any way to disprove that, but I do know where your friends have been taken and how to get them back."

"Then tell me now!"

"Hey, that's enough!" Moka had finally gotten to her feet and put a hand on Ichigo's arm. "We have lost the means to follow them and this guy seems to know something. Let's see if he can help us. If not I'll just beat him senseless."

This seemed to calm Ichigo down enough to realize that his anger at himself was causing him to act over-aggressively. He let go of his captive's shirt and took a step back. Moka then walked up to the newcomer and kicked him in the gut.

"Now tell us what you know" said Moka as we watched Daikurai collapse to one knee in pain. Ichigo sweat dropped in the background, deciding never to get on her angry side again.

Ichigo turned to her in confused surprise. "So I can't threaten him but you get to kick him?"

"Yup."

"And this helps us how?"

"I was feeling very irritated and I didn't like him acting so friendly."

By now Daikurai had finally recovered from the force of the hit and turned to face the pair. Moka couldn't help but notice that he still had that small smile. "Well the stories about you two are true; you really are quite strong and not afraid to fight."

"Wait" Ichigo interrupted, "How do know about us?"

"The tales of the exploits of powerful warriors always spread far and wide. Clashes between beings that can change the world are always noticed, even by normal humans. Still, I have never heard what your names are." Daikurai was truly hoping he found the two he had kept hearing about.

"You know, he has a point. I haven't even asked who you are" Ichigo spoke turning to the sliver haired girl next to him.

"It's Moka Akashiya, and don't forget it" Moka spoke gruffly.

"I'm Ichigo Kurosaki, substitute soul reaper."

"Ichigo and Moka, yes those are nice names. You are the ones I've heard about!" Daikurai seemed slightly excited that he had gotten to meet such legends.

"Alright, now we know our names how are we supposed to catch those bastards" said Ichigo as his angry was slowly returning.

"Where did they go away? They just jumped through a hole in the sky and then gone." Moka asked questionably to their new ally.

"They escaped through a temporary gate that could only be opened on the sky's horizon at the last moment of twilight. We cannot follow them now that the window has passed."

"So, can we actually follow them" Moka voice had lost some of its bite and even the appearance of aloofness couldn't cover her apparent feeling of worry. She had kept calm by focusing on saving Tsukune, but now without a way to continue she was starting to lose her confidence.

"Well, I don't know about our new 'friend'" commented Ichigo, "but I'm going to someone who knows how to make gateways to other places."

"And who would this person be Ichigo?" Daikurai asked.

"An annoying genius called 'Mr. Hat and Clogs'."

Ichigo turned towards the direction of Kisuke's Store. The other two followed; Moka with a slight look of worry in her eyes and Daikurai observing the emotions of the other two.

**. . .**

"And that's why we came here" finished Ichigo.

Urahara took another sip of tea and observed those around the room. Ichigo stared right back with determined eyes, but he could sense a feel of deep worry coming from the boy, the same as when Orihime had originally been kidnapped. He couldn't help but feel sorry for him, having to go through the same nightmare all over again.

His sight now turned towards the silver-haired beauty that sat slightly out of the candlelight, her expression was hard to make out but was obviously distraught. She had a distant look to her that meant she was focused on someone that was important to her. He easily guessed that person now was in danger of being lost forever. Whoever she was didn't matter, only that she was in the same boat as Ichigo.

Now he turned at last to the man leaning on the sliding door that apparently was the one who had protected them from the unknown blast. Like himself, he had his eyes concealed by his hat, and by leaning on the door he could detect if anyone was eavesdropping. His posture showed someone who was at ease with his surroundings, but ready to strike at any time or rapidly escape to a more open location, traits of an experienced fighter. He was unsure about what to do about him, he had information that they needed desperately, but at the same time they knew little about him and he gave off a dark aura.

"So, basically, a bunch of creeps came out of nowhere, did a hit and run, and now you came to me in hopes to open a gate to follow them, does that sound right?"

"Yes, so can you open a gate? How long will it take?" Ichigo start demanding rapidly.

"Are you even aware of where they are?" asked Urahara calmly. This caused Ichigo to pause; he felt like he had heard where but in all of the chaos he had forgot. He stole a glace towards Moka's location, but she seemed slightly unresponsive, just staring at her skirt.

"Hell" Daikurai said finally, straightening off the wall and turned toward the others in the room, "They have been banished to the inferno, the realm of demons and devils."

"Seriously!" Ichigo and Moka both said in equal shock, the word Hell had shaken Moka back to reality after recalling the snide remark the giant bug-thing had made.

"Oh, is that so?" Urahara spoke up with interest, then whipped out his little hand fan and started flipping it up and down with that large smile of his slipped on. "Well I'm afraid I know nothing about this so I can't help, but seem up to the task young man." He ended with that silly chuckle of his (Ichigo swore one day he would nail the jerk in the face the next time he did that).

"So you're telling me that the entire soul society and its greatest mind have no idea about the place I'm talking about?" Daikurai asked still trying to reason how this individual had gone through such a rapid mood change.

"Nope, only that it's an unfriendly place and is not under our influence" Urahara continued jovially.

"Wait, so the soul society has no contact or information on an entire world!" Ichigo turned towards Daikurai, wanting to believe but still slightly worried that he might not actually know anything.

"No, the soul society does not have any jurisdiction over Hell, in fact they haven't had contact with us since its inception" Daikurai said solemnly as if telling an old and sad story.

He continued to tell the group about the land of the dammed, where souls who have committed horrible acts of violence, profanity, and betrayal are caste into. These souls are collected by death reapers who hunt down these sinners, and often enough hollows, and banish them to unimaginable tortures of fire and pain.

"It is governed by countless denizens that are controlled by greater demons, who in turn are ruled over by the five Archdevils who are the generals and governors of the circles. And the dark ruler of this twisted and evil place is the embodiment of evil: Lucifer, the fallen angel. He is the one who ordered the capture of your friends."

"But why did he go after them?" asked Ichigo. It was getting harder to stay calm now, understanding that everyone he cared about was trapped in such a disturbing place.

"I do not know for sure, but I suspect that it has something to do with him trying to escape from the pit. He tried once before, and he only got even more tied down for his troubles, but he never truly gave up" contemplated Daikurai. He noticed that the candle was almost out. _We need to hurry; we don't have much time if we want to save them._

"Yeah, now that you mention it, those strange monsters said something about their master requiring some sort of power we possess" Moka recalled how Beelzebub had acted at first to be looking for something.

"What do you mean?" asked Ichigo. He remembered that he still didn't know how this girl had been able to see him in his soul reaper form, let alone fight him.

"Well, I as a noble vampire I'm more powerful than most other monsters and what that freak said was true, they were after the strongest sources of yokai power" explained Moka, regaining just a little of her confidence back into her voice.

This gave Ichigo a slight surprise, but not too much considering he met quite a few strange characters over the last year, so it wasn't too strange to consider classic monsters to be real.

"Well, even if we now know where they are, I still can't make any way to get there" injected Urahara, "I am save to assume that you know how to get there." He gave Daikurai a forceful stare that would make most men tremble, but it didn't seem to make Daikurai uneasy at all. "I think it's also safe to say you are one of these denizens you spoke of since you know so much."

"In fact I do. As I mentioned before we can't make an artificial gate due to time, and I'll also point out that only those four can use that ability. However that doesn't mean that we can't use one of the fixed gates."

"Really, so there are portals just hanging out all over the place. If I had known that it would've saved me a lot of trouble over the last year." Urahara returned to laughing personality behind his fan as Daikurai turned to open the door.

Daikurai turned back towards the group. "And to answer your other question, yes, I am an individual from Hell. That means you may not be able to trust me, but I'm the best chance you've got."

A silent vote seemed to take place between Moka and Ichigo. They were uncertain to trust this guy, but willing to for now.

"Alright then, so how do we actually reach this gate?" asked Moka in a demanding voice now with her hope restored that they could find their friends.

"Why, how else do you think people get anywhere these days my dear, by taking the train of course." Daikurai replied in an upbeat tone.

"HUH?"

**. . .**

-**Tokyo Station-**

The bullet train had resumed to move again after having to stop for an hour at the Central Tokyo Station. Due to the late hour of the night, the only ones still on the train were Ichigo, Moka, and Daikurai. The two former were still slightly surprised that they were taking a train to find the entrance the most terrible place in the universe, it seemed too normal. They sat in a car that had booths facing each other, Moka and Ichigo on one side looking slightly dazed by the whole situation, and Daikurai on the other side just watching their faces with an almost humorous look.

"Say Daikurai, you haven't mentioned where we're actually headed" Moka asked. She had been surprised by the train; she had never been on one of the really fast ones and it was astounding to her how smooth the trip was.

"Yes, I guess I should have mentioned it. We are headed for the Sensoji Temple."

This jarred Ichigo back to his usual self. "Wait, you mean _the _Sensoji Temple, one of the national monuments of Japan."

"Yes, the very same shine. Apparently, there is a gate to Hell in the sealed off lower floors of the Temple where nobody goes."

"How can one of the country's top tourist attractions and largest Buddhist temple in Tokyo have a giant door in the basement, and no one has noticed?" Ichigo was surprised by how easy this was all sounding. It made going to the Soul Society sound like a trial.

Daikurai slipped off the strap holding the broadsword off his back and set it on the seat next to him. "It goes back to the legend about how the temple was originally created. Around the seventh century, it's said that a pair of fisherman brothers were casting lines in the nearby Sumida River where the temple is today. They didn't catch any fish that day, but they did fish out a strange-looking rock that looked like maybe a statue of some sort. They tried throwing it back into the river for fear that by removing it from the river would bring bad luck, but no matter how hard he tried it would just appear before them again, like a bad penny."

"Finally, fed up with the statue, the fishermen took the rock to a local shrine and had the head priest look at it. The priest identified it as a statue of Kannon, the goddess of mercy, considered an important deity in Buddhism and had a shire built in its glory at once. Now we have the Sensoji Temple."

"So this statue, is that the source of the portal?" Moka asked intuitively, she had become completely engrossed with the story.

"Spot on Moka, I knew you would figure it out. The statue is not truly a holy rock, but rather, a demon catalyst that draws upon the dark energy that demons and the like use in this world and draw it from hell, and they use that as a channel to create the gateway between our worlds."

"This isn't the only portal in existence either," continued Daikurai, "There are several places around the world that anyone can enter hell through: there's a cave in southern Italy, an abandoned stairwell tunnel in Central Park in New York City, and even a recording studio in Las Angeles. Of course, each of these places has many guardians watching over it and no sane person would want to go to Hell." (So what does that make us?)

With his explanation done, the small group returned to silence. Ichigo thoughts returned to the days when Orihime had been kidnapped by Aizen just days before the Winter War broke out and how hard it had been to get her back; getting severely injured several times and almost dying once. He also remembered Zengetsu's warning about them not being at full strength. He hoped that even with his reduced powers he could defeat anything they faced until he fully recovered.

Moka was also thinking inward, just hours ago she had been quietly listening to outer Moka about how she was finally going to say how she felt about Tsukune, now if they failed, they may never see him again. For the first time she could remember, inner Moka actually felt afraid. The thought of losing even one of her friends was too horrible to think about, but seeing Tsukune dead. . .

_No, don't think_ _like that_. It was outer Moka talking; _you mustn't think like that, if we do we have already lost. We'll save him, together._ Moka smiled to herself, to think that her softer personality would be the one give her the pep talk.

The speakers binged on throughout the train, "Next stop: Arakawa station, home of the famous Sensoji Temple. Thank you for travelling with us, have a nice day."

**-Sensoji Temple Plaza-**

The great plaza before the temple stood vacant and silent, the last lagging tourists from France had left about two hours earlier. Pale rays of blue moonlight shined down over everything, giving the feeling of being under the sea at night. The trio stood silently in front of the Kaminarimon, or Thunder gate, its tall pillars stood as a portal into the courtyard of the temple, like a gate guardian watching for trespassers. They slowly walked through the arch and onto the great Nakamise shopping street.

"It sure is quiet. Somehow it feels almost sinister without all the people usually here" Moka said somewhat quietly. She had been itching for a fight, but the feeling of dread they all had begun to sense after entering the walkway just couldn't be shaken.

"Yes, I feel it too Moka" Daikurai said softly. "It is like we are being watched; the unpleasantness is also coming from the temple itself."

They paused, the front of the mall stretching onward to the main gate and the actual temple itself. Even in the weak light of the waning moon the spectacular craftsmanship and vibrant colors of temple still shone brightly. Normally during the day the temple was like a small shopping town, with dozens of stores on both sides of the walkway, selling traditional festival goods and luck charms. The artistic designs on the buildings, beautiful oriental temple architecture, and vibrant reds, yellows, silver, and gold colors gave one the feeling of being in a daily festival. Hundreds of thousands of people come through here every day, creating one of the many inner towns within the city of Tokyo.

At night however, our three heroes felt like they were entering the demon's lair. The shapes of the temple stores and walkway had transformed under the pale moon into twisted and demonic forms, giving them an air of malice. Though nothing had actually changed, the darkness made the temple far more terrifying.

Ichigo looked to the closed stores on the left and right sides of the mall and checked the roof edges. No sign of anything, but the shadows suggested otherwise. "I sense we are walking into a trap" he said calmly as he reached for his sword and undid the wrapping with a whisper of cloth.

Moka shifted her stance to a better position to kick at anything that may appear. Daikurai reached under his duster and drew out a concealed black katana with his left hand and simple stood ready.

"It's about two-hundred meters to the other side of the mall, then about four floors down to the closed off section" Daikurai said eyeing the long white pathway like a river of acid.

"So, next course of action?" asked Moka.

"Spring the trap" Ichigo and Daikurai said at the same time and took a step forward.

Suddenly from behind the buildings on each side of them, two white shapes blasted at them with speed too fast for the eye to see. Ichigo and Daikurai swung their swords in unison across each other and cut down the shapes coming from the opposite direction. Then Moka ran up their crouching forms and did a split in the air, kicking two more figures in unison. Landing in front of the group Moka turned around to look at what she had hit. She wished she hadn't; the two she had hit recovered immediately and jumped away, back into the shadows, but the other two gutted figures were unmoving and they all got a good look at them. They were entirely bleached white in color and completely hairless, three fingers on both hands with long razor sharp claws and hooked feet. The limbs had webbing under the arms and suggested that whatever this is was once bipedal but had regressed some so it could run on all fours. The unsettling part of these beasts was the heads: they had no apparent ears or nose, and no eyes, just spots where they should be, along with a large mouth that was permanently stretched open with two sets of finger-thick fangs.

"What are these things" yelled Moka as she spun and high kicked another one from the nearby ally and set it flying into the ally on the other side. Then the attack had begun in earnest, white shadows jumping all over the place, the sound of growling and roars filled the night.

"They're vampires" yelled Daikurai as he slashed another one that had charged right at him, "ancient ones, they were what vampires were before evolving greater intelligence and the ability to mingle with humanity."

"WHAT! That's a vampire!?" Ichigo had caught one by the neck, it was desperately trying to reach his face and gorge on him, its mouth going into a sort of biting frenzy. He swung and threw it at the large number of them coming from the right side of the walkway. These vampires were very fast and incredibly agile so they all easily jumped away and were starting to appear all over the buildings, roaring at each other like lions.

Though Moka and Ichigo could easily take these beasts on, they were soon becoming overwhelmed by their sheer numbers and the difficulty with hitting them. Moka swung another punch at one, only to have it slip away. Annoyed at this, she drove herself to tap into her yokai energy some. Reaching for the well of power within herself, she caught hold of it and all at once her senses became even sharper than before, even the beast's speed seem slower. Now she could land hits and sent two more flying, but they were still getting pushed back. At only twenty meters down the path the three were back to back and completely surrounded by no less than two-hundred primordial vampires. Now with nowhere to run, the vampires seemed to pause, as if waiting for the order to make the kill.

"Where did these creatures come from" asked Ichigo trying to see if something else was waiting beyond the army of fangs.

"Most likely they were setup throughout the gate, they have been expecting us" Daikurai said as he observed the distance to the doors of the temple. It would take about five seconds to reach it and they would never make it.

"Do you have any tools to deal with this trash 'Mr. Guide'" Moka said haughtily, she felt slightly disturbed by the knowledge that these beasts were some sort of ancestor to her.

"I got something that should work, but we need at least ten seconds to use it and seal the doors to the temple before they catch us, otherwise we are going to be nothing but blood buffets"

"Well then, get ready to use it" Ichigo raised his sword in front of him and poured a large amount of spiritual power into the blade. The vampires seem to sense that their prey was planning something and started roaring more.

"NOW! Getsuga Tensho!" roared Ichigo as he swung his huge blade at the group between them and the temple. The huge wave of blue energy blasted the vampires as Daikurai threw some small grenade-like object above their heads. The following explosions of the sword strike and the sphere detonating created a huge cloud of dust that instantly lit up like a firework. The results would have been impressive to see: most of the nearby beasts appeared to have been reduced to ash outlines and most of the remaining vampires were on the ground twitching like cockroaches.

Ichigo charged ahead and reached the temple doors and with one hand, lifted the board sealing the way and tossed it aside. Daikurai landed behind Ichigo and pulled one door open and allowed Moka to race by into the inner sanctum. Ichigo swung his sword behind him and caught one vampire that had recovered, splitting it in two, and charged through the door. Daikurai slipped in right behind him and desperately dragged the wooden gate closed, and then an inch from closing a pair of white hands grabbed the door from the outside, then three more. Their evasion window had passed.

"Quick, give me a hand" yelled Daikurai as another two hands grabbed the door and started to pull it open. One slipped its face through the crack, like a taunt, and started roaring insanely. Ichigo grabbed the large handle and pulled back, and then Moka jumped from behind and sent two of the vampires flying back out into the plaza. The loss of momentum gave the three a second extra to pull the door back and seal it closed. Moka noticed a large set of chains behind a nearby pillar and used it to wrap the handles together, then Daikurai grabbed it with his hand and somehow produced heat that temporarily fused the links together. With the main danger outside left to only roar and scratch at the door, the group had a moment to recover.

"Ok . . . ok, what were those things?" Moka asked working to catch her breath. It would seem that this journey would test her limits at what she can truly do.

"As I said, they're prehistoric vampires, these ones are more beast than man. They make excellent alert guards if you're not at home. Seeing that so many are here however, it means they were expecting us to go after your friends"

"Right, then we better hurry" Ichigo lifted his massive sword onto his back and started walking down the hallway. Daikurai and Moka quietly followed after him into the dark.

After such an intense battle right at the doors the walk through the temple was strangely calm. They passed the main shrine with a large golden statue of Buddha, adorn with gilded decorations and continued on to the back rooms reserved for the temple priests. They found the stairs to the lower floors and storage rooms near the head priest chambers, crudely concealed into the floorboards. Quiet darkness now persisted as they traveled lower and lower into chambers; it looked like they had not been used in decades.

Ichigo continued as the leader, dust rising from his sandals with each step, creating a low cloud of dust, like a fog bank. Moka had to fight back a sneeze more than once, to make a sound felt like giving away their position. They had reached the fourth base floor when she decided to say what she had noticed.

"Does anyone feel that it is strange? We have seen no one at all, not even in the private quarters; shouldn't there be someone here at night to watch the temple?" She looked back down the way they had come. Nothing but darkness stared back, oppressive as ever.

"Yeah, even it is near the middle of the night, shouldn't there be someone here?" Ichigo slowed down for the other two the catch up, they had reached a door at the end of the hallway, a big door made of caste iron and a large handle fitted in the middle in the shape of a viper's head, mouth opened wide revealing long fangs. Ichigo grabbed the handle, _it truly feels like a snake's scales_, he thought, and opened the door.

The door opened to a large circular chamber several meters in diameter, no other apparent doors leading onward. Two ancient statues could be made out in the dark next to the door, giant beasts that looked like bronze werewolves standing upright. Then in a flash, all the wall torches lit in a chain motion around the room, revealing around two dozen robed monks in the middle of the room. Once the lights had appeared they had begun to change, the leader in the front suddenly smiled maliciously and drew out a long curved sword form under his robe as his skin withered and became like grey sandpaper. The rest of the monks also changed and started growling like cavemen, long white hair sprouting from there bald heads.

"Well, that explains where everyone went" Daikurai reached for his sword and followed Ichigo into the fray. The priests gave little resistance, even Moka who was unarmed, simply swatted any who got near. In about two minutes the entire clergy was a pile of body parts, strangely though no blood flowed.

"These weaklings we not even worth our time" said Moka observing the pile with distaste. "Why were they even put here?"

"These were just minions" explained Daikurai, "souls corrupted by the dark power of Hell. If anything they're just cannon fodder."

"So then why have group of them here?" Ichigo asked as he walked around the chamber, tapping his huge sword on the walls. "After those monsters outside, how would they expect things like that to stop us?"

Then they heard a new noise, the sound of twisting metal. The sound came from the two giant statues, along with a growling sound. Flakes of bronze broke loose and crashed to the ground, the gaps revealed matted fur, iron chains, and huge claws.

"Unless they wanted us trapped in here with them" Daikurai slowly stepped back and joined the other two. One of the beasts finally broke free and stepped of its pedestal, the ground shook greatly from just that one step.

"So what do we have on the menu now" asked Ichigo turning to Daikurai as the other monster broke out in a roar. Each one was the height of two grown men, with meter long horns and tusks sticking out in every direction from its canine mouth. Oh, and did I mention the smell? Like the worst case of dog breathe in history. Their eyes couldn't be seen due to a large rusted iron plate encompassing the entire of the top of the head and long snout.

"Well, these are what are known as Asterian Beasts, the primary beast of burden in Hell. Not much of a brain to them but incredibly strong and aggressive."

"We'll see about that" and with that, Moka charged ahead at her top speed, so fast the brutes didn't even notice. She charged up one arm and stopped on its back. Then, jumped several feet up and threw all her leg strength into the beast's skull. It fell like a ton of bricks, with a feeble roar it slumped to the floor; it still being alive was undetermined.

Not waiting the other to react, Ichigo and Daikurai flash stepped to the other Asterian beast, Ichigo went high, Daikurai low. Ichigo raised his blade for a massive stroke, and while still airborne heard Daikurai shout out.

"Charge, Akumetsu" his sword changed into two katanas, one black with a red handle, the other a shining white with gold details. He was using duel wield.

Ichigo swung with everything he had, carving the top half of the beast in two, like dicing a hollow. Daikurai struck with both blades a once in opposite strokes across the chest area. Their combined attacks sent the shaggy behemoth flying into the far wall with such force the wall caved in and exploded. When the dust cloud lifted, only its giant feet were still visible, with one toe still twitching.

Moka eyed the destruction, "so did you two have to one-up me?" she asked with curiosity.

"Well, I sensed a hollow area there and decided to make a path" Ichigo proudly stated. This girl was strong, but she could easily tick him off real fast. "What I really want to know is, how do you have a Zanpakuto Daikurai?"

Daikurai brought up both of his swords, the black one was rippling with some black energy that encompasses it. "I gained my Zanpakuto through work dealing with some nasty spirits down here, then trained from their" he said it casually, but it could be sensed there was more to it.

"Well, I don't mind" said Moka, "but now that we have a path to follow we should take it get back at those bastards." She crawled over the rubble and down into the dark hole. She could barely breathe due to the foul stench. _Ugh, that's awful. I'm glad Gin never smelled that bad or we never would have gotten any work done._ She completely agreed with outer Moka, this would make any werewolf smell sweet.

The three followed the newly renovated tunnel into the dark once again. The passage was tight like a hidden passage, after a few twists the outer walls seem to disappear and the stairs formed into a tight spiral that opened up into nothing on the sides. Soon the air became cold, moisture on the walls froze and crystalize right before their eyes. The wind that had been nonexistent in the temple began to softly blow, sounding like voices of rasps and moans. Finally, the stairs ended. Moka could make out a dirt floor and the distant edges of rocky walls, but even with her exceptional eyesight, she could not see beyond where they stood.

They started walking onward, the stairs slowly receding into shadows. The darkness was so complete nothing could be seen, even after Daikurai summoned a tiny flame. After what felt like hours of walking the edges of the walls began to reach their vision. A short time later they reached the end of the chamber.

"We've made it, the gates of Hell" Daikurai released the flame and it rose above them and illuminated the passage before them.

The gates of Hell, a massive pair of ancient doors, five meters in height and covered in rust, but it didn't take from the majestic and sheer dread felt from seeing them. They appeared to be made of some sort of bronze under all the patches of rust, possibly celestial bronze, a lost metal from the time of ancient wars. The feature that gave the doors such a terrifying feel to them though was its sculpture work. Every inch of the gate had carved figures of human shapes in numerous positions of indescribable pain, writhing and twisting up along the edges of the frame. The flame gave them the flicking of movement, as if these doors were made of tormented souls, forever trapped as metal decor.

Ichigo felt as if the doors were a bad omen, the symbol of the dark path they followed. A dark feeling from inside himself that he hadn't felt since he had lost his powers was reaching out, as if drawn to the door. He only hoped that he could control it as they headed after Orihime, Rukia, Chad, and Uyru.

Moka stood in a trance, her feelings mixing between fear and excitement. Being a member of the yokai she was well tuned to natural dark forces in the world, her more aggressive side was enthralled with the idea of many fights against such opponents. Outer Moka still remained close to her other self's mind, their wish to save Tsukune kept them focused.

Daikurai only showed the look of remembering some old dark memories. This journey was going to be a battle of the mind as much as the physical fights. Even one such as himself who came from the dark would have to stay focused.

The outer edge of the door also had golden lettering flickering in the light, starting on the left and ending of the opposite door.

"What does that say?" Moka asked tilting her head to an angle in curiosity.

"I have no idea. Doesn't look like English, maybe Greek?" Ichigo was squinting at the line over the top of the gate, growing more confused by the second.

"It's in Latin, there are not many who use this dialect anymore" Daikurai answered, "It reads:

'Through me the way is to the city dolent;

Through me the way is to eternal dole;

Through me the way among the people lost.

Justice incited my sublime Creator;

Created me divine Omnipotence,

The highest Wisdom and primal Love.

Before me there were no created things,

Only eterne, and I eternal last.

All hope abandon, ye who enter in!'"

"That sounds familiar, a lot like English poetry, too fancy for me though" Ichigo stared at the doors now with better understanding, but still lost on the meaning.

"Well, it's basically saying 'this is Hell, give up now', but I'm going in, and I will not be stopped" Moka headed forward, Daikurai walking right behind her.

Just before reaching the threshold of the gate, the ground before them rippled with some black fog. It began to swirl together and rise up, stopping about a foot above their heads. A shape began to form, a tall hooded figure in a deep, dark cloak. The figure was impossible to make out beyond the hood, but its hands could be seen: the bones of human hands, charcoal black, somehow held together by nothing. Then the figure raised a long bony finger from its right hand, and spoke in a voice that sounded like dead leaves, but could have silenced life itself.

"Ichigo Kurosaki, Moka Akashiya, Daikurai Isamu. Eternal Damnation for your sins."

"What? Has this monster dared judge us or something?" Moka asked angrily, she was getting tired of all these barriers in her way.

"For crimes of challenging our lord, resisting against the Archdevils, our masters, you are damned to eternal fire" the hooded figure replied in a slow rasp.

"Well I guess that you would be in our way, Death. Sad to see you reduced to a watchdog though." Daikurai was ready to deal with the master of the death reapers at long last.

"Demon, your souls our mine" and with a wave of his hand, a massive scythe took shape in the dark fog cloud and landed in Death's hands. The first boss battle of their journey had begun.

Moka charged in immediately, jumping high a giving Death a strong kick to the face, only it never got that far. With reaction speed no one expected, it caught her by the neck, and threw her at the far wall with enough force to break bones. Daikurai was able to catch her just before impact, with him going in about foot into the rock instead. Meanwhile, Ichigo had charged Death's turned side and halfway released his bankai form. The change enhanced his speed and allowed him get past the cloak and strike. One good strike left a surprisedDeath reeling, but it didn't last. It turned and somehow kept Ichigo from running, then raised his right hand like he was grabbing something. A semi-clear shape of Ichigo's form appeared and began to pull away from his body.

"Give me your soul." The bastard was trying to take his soul! Moka shifted position on Daikurai and launched off his hands like off a springboard and punched Death with everything she had. It gave Ichigo his moment to break free and charge his strongest attack while Death brushed Moka away. Now Daikurai joined the fray, both swords drawn and he used the speed of two swords to make as many rapid slashes as possible. Death showed great skill as well, with the staff of the scythe he blocked and parried like it was a duel. Moka came from the left again and jumped for a strong high kick, Ichigo released a powerful Getsuga Tensho from the right. It looked like it would work.

"INSOLENT MORTALS!" Death roared and he appeared to explode with a wave of black energy. All three went flying as the world went dark with the light going out. Moka crashed into the wall, she could feel something warm trickle past her face and her ribs ached badly. Several fist size blue flames appeared around the battlefield and revealed Daikurai sprawled out near Death's feet, swords a few feet away. The flame was a taunt by Death so they could see the end come. Ichigo could be seen a distance behind Death, up against the doors. The chain on the handle jingled as he tightens the grip on his sword, it seems Death was holding some strength back. That one attack had nearly taken all of them down, and if the legends were true, that scythe could wipe them all out in an instant. Moka had gotten back up, but she was battered and bleeding. Ichigo knew he had to act fast, Moka looked to fall, and Daikurai seemed out for the count. He needed to do something or they were all dead.

_You're an idiot king; it's all in your head. Honestly, I should be the one in control, that hooded freak wouldn't last two minutes against me. _A voice whispered in Ichigo's head, a voice he hoped and yet hated to hear again. His inner hollow had come back from oblivion, obviously weak still since he didn't have to fight himself, but back all the same. Then Ichigo noticed he didn't feel as weak as before, whatever trick Death was using, Hichigo's presence had broken the connection.

With a burst of speed, he caught Death from behind, and drove his sword right through, its black tip pointing out. If its face could be seen, shock would be the obvious feature. It staggered back some and dropped the scythe with a rattling clang. That's when Moka appeared in front of Death and swung her foot straight down on the hood with all her strength, even flames appeared just before impact.

"Know your place!" she yelled as she crushed him, actual blood spraying the ground, black in color, mixing with the wound on its front and into the dark soil. It looked for a way to flee, and ended up facing a very conscious Daikurai, holding his scythe.

"You know, I forgot that you could suppress the will of living beings to survive. A nasty trick that can render mortals at your mercy if you're not careful, but the strongest of wills can overcome it." Daikurai raised the scythe, and swung with the force to chop down a tree. The blade slowly started to cut him in two.

"Wait, I can spare . . ." it never finished as Daikurai used one last push to slice all the way home. The remains split apart and unraveled into black smoke, billowing in heaps. The blue flame remained floating in the abrupt silence.

"Wow, we just beat death itself" Ichigo broke the silence. Moka gave a slight laugh after thinking about it. They had overcome the source of mortal weakness.

"Yes, we sure did, thanks to Ichigo breaking Death's will" Daikurai said proudly, if anyone could do this, they could.

"Then let's get moving" Moka turned to the doors and approached them.

"Hang on Moka, I think this is now yours" Daikurai grabbed the flame and tossed it to her. When she caught it, the flame increased for a second, then dissipated, leaving only light coming from the door.

The gates started to glow golden, then a short chant floated on the air: "pape satan, pape satan aleppe." And the glow abruptly stopped. A crack formed near the middle between the doors, Daikurai grabbed one door, Ichigo the other, and Moka reached the middle and pushed forward. Together with some effort the doors slowly edged open. Then at last they swung open with a thump and a rush of heat. Looking in flashes of fire and jagged peaks could be seen, along with an endless wail of screams. Three stood for a moment, the last break till the end, and together they jumped.

"Geronimo!" Daikurai's voice went out with some excitement as the trio fell into the endless abyss.

-**The Immortal Throne, the Sixth Circle-**

Oblivion was all he was aware of. For a time he couldn't remember who he was. Then he heard voices in the distance, faint, but definite screams, someone was in pain in a serious way. The sound drove him back to awareness, and renewed the aches that covered his whole body.

Tsukune opened his eyes, still blurry and unfocused. It was then that he noticed the heat as it hit his eyes. He had to be in a furnace, it was the only way it could be this hot. His watery vision cleared at last, but now he wishes it hadn't. The sight sent chills down his spine: he was in some vast city, but it was a city only in name, nothing but square boxes covered all the spires and buildings, the color of blood red and black dominated the landscape. Upon closer inspection he saw that each one of these squares were tombs, and each one had a person in it, and at certain (or maybe random) moments the tombs would light up with fire and the occupant would make those madding screams.

Unable to watch, Tsukune looked the other direction and saw something more troubling. Behind him was the Archdevil Azazel, sword drawn and a look of indifference. Next to him was a throne, but jet black, which stood out among the tombs, and looked like it was made with the bodies and skeletons of moaning people supporting the base of the chair.

Then there was the individual sitting upon the throne, a man of average height and with great physic. Any other features were lost in the endless smoke that made up his form, blowing in some unknown wind.

"Welcome Tsukune Aono, to Hell. And I do believe this is the start of a wonderful future for you and us" said the smooth and cunning stranger that could only be Lucifer himself.

A hooded figure stood out of sight and watched the look of terror cloud the face of the boy as his situation sunk in and Lucifer began to laugh. The figure smiled, the beginning of the end of the age of mortals had begun.

To be continued . . .

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**I a lot went on in this chapter, and more is coming when we return in a few days hopfully. Any reviews you leave will be greatly welcomed.**

**Now at long last, the stage is set, the players are in motion, and the of our time battle has begun. We're finally done with the parlimaries now on to the main event! **

**Next: Chapter 6: The Arrival**


	7. Chapter 6 - The Arrival

**Hello my fellow writers and readers, welcome back. As you know it's May and that means for college students Exam weeks! I'm sorry for taking so long to get the next chapter up but I needed to study like mad for four finals within one week. So this latest chapter is an end of semester treat for all of you out their. So please, Enjoy!**

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**Chapter 6 – The Arrival**

**-The Entrance to the Abyss, Hell-**

In the basement of the Sensoij Temple sealed behind a hidden passage within the great mediation chamber, is an ancient set of doors. Great décor was invested in its design, the ancient and forgotten metal that formed the gates made the figures withering in pain almost appear to moan in anguish. Now these great gates had been pushed open wide, creaking from now loose hinges so old that the grating of stone on bronze could be heard over the sudden release of wailing winds. All the sources of light in the chamber had gone out long ago, sucked into the howling channel, along with anything within its grasp into a chasm abyss.

Follow the wind through the ancient doors and the world itself vanishes into nothing as you step off. The ground disappears and the temperature rises as you fall in absolute darkness. The only evidence that show you are moving at all is the occasional flash of fire falling down along with you at the speed of a meteor. That is when you realize that the high pitched sound is not coming from the wind. Taking a second look however, you realize that it is not fire but a human figure on fire! Yes, this is how souls cast into the depths of Hell arrive: a gut wrenching fall through fire and darkness, left only to scream and panic to no avail. Soon the air below you becomes even hotter, like waves of heat released from a sealed room, and a faint hue of red grows from below with each second. The abyss seems to have an end to its never-ending fall (not that this isn't a hellish punishment), there's a chance that you might just reach solid WHAM!

. . .

Her head was aching big time, like she had slammed into a wall of concrete. Moka had to work to open her eyes; it took a moment for them to clear of the soot that had begun to cover her sprawled figure. When her vision cleared, it showed a barren landscape, weakly lit with nothing but jagged rocks and soot-filled air. It gave the stadium-size cavern the look of a monster's mouth with hundreds of stalactites and stalagmites' jutting everywhere, vicious hooks of black and brown rock pillars rising into darkness. She cringed as she started to get up; every bone in her body was singing the same aching note. It was then that Moka noticed the impact crater around her; the circumference was double her size and a good three feet into the ground (a miracle that hadn't hit any sharp edges). If it weren't for the fact that she was an S-class yokai she probably would not have survived the fall.

"Ugh, I hate doing that jump. You always feel worse after you land." Daikurai was stumbling over to her, favoring his right shoulder. Just like her he had landed quiet hard, though it seemed not as lucky.

"So, what happened?" she asked as she took the hand Daikurai gave to help her up. A few twists of her arms and it was safe to say nothing was broken, just a few scrapes.

"We took the plunge through the gates and ended up on the fields of death."

"And where does that put us?" Moka demanded, she felt like time was running out for them already and the adrenaline from the rush of the fall pumped through her still.

"It's a plateau of sorts" Daikurai explained, "a shallow ledge that is positioned just above the passage that leads onward into the depths. This place was home to Death and his servants, the death reapers."

Just staying in this place felt unpleasant; as if all the vibrancy of the world had turned grey and dead the longer you stay. Moka had a strong urge to leave this spot and walk towards the dark horizon; it felt like a command almost. She was about to walk past Daikurai when she finally recalled what she had been looking for originally. "Hey, where's Ichigo?"

-**Ichigo's Mind-**

Ichigo was at the moment reminding himself to get up and get ready for school, then of course the last few hours came rushing back in a torrent of emotion. _Hooded freaks, broken buildings, Rukia fighting . . . Orihime . . . Orihime in trouble . . . she's in danger! _His eyes snapped open and he jackknifed to his feet with lightning speed, drawing his sword.

After about two seconds of waving his sword like a machete (now noticing he was out of Bankai state) in every direction, he finally recognized where he was, the world of his soul. It was a city of modern skyscrapers, tall and majestic, reaching of the sky in the endless climb to reach the heavens. But something was not right, the sky was normally sunny with some clouds floating by, this time was not the case. There was a moon hanging over the upturned world with stars scattered around like pinholes in dark paper.

It was nighttime in his inner world.

Ichigo could not think of a reason for such an event to occur that would make such an anomaly. He had heard from Zangetsu that his inner world reflected his mental state, rain when depressed or sad, longer shadows from darkness and anger, but nothing to make the moon come out.

_Come to think of it, I didn't think this world had a nighttime. _Other than the sky, everything else seemed normal. "Hello, Zengetsu. What's going on?" he waited for a reply, nothing.

"Hey, where are you. Why do I have a moon in my world?!" never in all the times that Ichigo had been here did he have trouble reaching Zengetsu, something must be very wrong to prevent a connection with his soul.

"Oh, there is something very wrong alright king, but not in here" said a creepy and yet similar voice to Ichigo's next to his left ear. Ichigo spun to his left with sword out and some anger on his face, but saw nothing.

"What the Hell do you mean by that?" demanded Ichigo, he knew that voice all too well, one he wish he never wanted to hear again, but knew he eventually would.

"Exactly King, the world you've entered is Hell, and by doing so all the evil and darkness within you is becoming the dominating power" happily spoke the disembodied voice of Ichigo's inner hollow: Shirosaki.

"Show yourself you coward, afraid to take me on" Ichigo was started to get worried that he would not find his hollow or Zengestu.

"Oh, on the contrary King, I'm not hiding, I'm recovering. After all it was you who nearly killed use and reduced me to this shade-like state. But now I have to thank you for our latest catastrophe."

"What?"

"Even as I speak, this world is slowly succumbing to the evils of the inferno, taking over your mind piece by piece; and once I recover the darkness in here will allow me to take over completely; by the time all the light goes out." It was then that Ichigo noticed a change in the sky, a star near the moon had winked out like it was snuffed out. At first he thought it was just trick of the mind, but then another star went out, and with each light that disappeared the shadows stretched just a little more.

"It won't be long now, soon I'll be back." Shirosaki's voice had come close again, but this time he could almost make out a small ripple of darkness in front of him that moved on its own. Suddenly the shadow shot forward and got an inch from Ichigo's face, and a pair of yellow cat eyes emerged at eye level.

"And the first thing I'm going to do is ripe out your heart! Then, I'll be the King! Ah Ha Ha Ha Ha . . ."

The laughter continued as Ichigo stepped back and felt the ground beneath him simply vanish, he fell with the sky rapidly shrinking as he got further and further away; the darkness become complete, only the manic laughter remained.

. . .

"Ichigo! Ichigo wake up!" Ichigo felt that somebody was shaking him quite hard (if the soreness in his skull suggested anything). He opened his eyes and saw Moka and Daikurai over him, Moka being the one who had been smacking him.

"Alright, alright, I'm awake." He sat up and took stock of his surroundings; a barren rocky plane with flashes of fire, a nice place to wake up from a nightmare.

"What happen to you, it was like you were trapped in some sort of pain" Moka stood up and offered a hand up. Ichigo reached, but noticed that his whole arm was shacking; a cold sweat had covered his body as well. The scare from his hollow must have shaken him more than expected. Daikurai noticed the look of mild fear in Ichigo's dark brown eyes, "What's wrong, and don't say nothing. I might point out that in here your emotional health can be more important than your physical strength, Lucifer loves mind games" Daikurai stated strongly. Ichigo finally took Moka's hand and stood up, though he wobbled a little.

"I'm just a little surprised by the return of Hichigo" he said in a self-guilt voice.

"Who?" Moka asked.

"He's my inner hollow. I am more than just a soul reaper; I am a Vizard, one who has the power of a monster that was once a soul that has lost its center." Ichigo took a breath before he continuing; he had trouble ever talking about this, especially to almost complete strangers. "He seems to be affecting my inner world where my powers come from and he may try to take over again, but I need his hollow abilities if I'm going to save my friends." He looked off into the distance, troubled by the thought of one of his greatest fears becoming real. One time before during the Winter War he had nearly died at the hands of Ulguiorra, the fourth Espada. The event caused some sort of strange change to him and when he finally came to, the Espada was in little pieces and he his sword was in Ishida's chest. Only Orihime and Uryu had seen what had transpired, and even now Ichigo wondered what he might have done if they hadn't stopped him.

Moka noticed the look of worry on Ichigo's face, so unlike the natural frown usually there. She could understand what it was like to have another side of herself, but to be at war with outer Moka just seemed very wrong. Outer Moka perked up. _I agree with you, I could never fight you; you're a part of who I am_. Inner Moka was glad she had a partner like this, but she couldn't think of way to help out. Then Daikurai got a slight smile on his face and walked over to Ichigo.

He tapped him on the shoulder, Ichigo turned towards his two allies, and Daikurai drew an apple out of the air.

"Hungry?" he asked smiling. It took a second for Ichigo to react. He responded by smacking the blunt side of his sword over Daikurai's head.

"Of course not idiot!" he yelled "I'm a spirit made of reishi, I don't eat!"

"Oh good, I guess you're not a hollow yet" said the muffled voice in the dirt. Daikurai's response made Ichigo pause in surprise. Was he trying to alleviate his fear of becoming a hollow? Daikurai slowly got back up form the ash-covered ground.

"Well, if you ever start having cravings just come to me and I'll give you some apples so don't worry so much; you won't starve." Turning on his heel Daikurai started to walk a short distance away from the others. Moka turned to look at Ichigo; he had his old frown back on and a look of confused annoyance. Yup, he was back to normal.

"Say, Moka. You still have the blue flame we acquired from Death." Daikurai asked without looking back. "Well yes, what for?" she asked. "Draw it from yourself and release it into the sky" He replied.

Moka reached for the strange new sensation she had felt since they had arrived, like a bright warm light. She reached for it and after a moment a blue flame burst to life in her right hand, the size of her fist, happily crackling away in different shades of blue. She gave a shrug and threw the little flame as hard as she could, it released in a perfect arc.

"Aziz Light!" said Daikurai and suddenly the flame burst apart and lit countless torches on the rocky overhangs all over the landscape.

The whole plateau could be seen now, jagged rocks and crooked spires reaching up to a concealing black sky. Exposed slabs and cracks of black obsidian reflected everywhere, and numerous holes dotted the ground where an endless stream of burning figures fell, all screaming through a ceaseless din.

"Ladies and Gentlemen welcome to Hell" Daikurai spread his arms out to encompass the land of the damned.

**-Unknown Location, Hell-**

A long table made of pure obsidian with sleek high-back chairs stood in the middle of a dark void. Incredible designs of ancient monsters, horrible battles, and fiends were craved into the stone, along with sculptures of other demons crawling up the chairs. No sense of direction could be seen, only the table from some demonic corporate office.

Suddenly, the tallest of the high chairs at one of the table turned outward on its own, the air near it shimmered, and a cloaked figure appeared sitting in the chair. His violet eyes glowing from under his hood, giving his face a faint violet hue. He stared out into to the darkness, contemplating the recent events of entertaining Lucifer and the work of the Archdevils. Now it was time to start moving his pieces onto the field.

"It appears that our guests have arrived" he said as he spun in his chair to face the table. Now three shadow forms filled seats along the table, darkness concealed them from being recognized.

"Finally, now I can beat that orange hair brat once and for all" the shape with the spiky hair said as he slammed his fist into the table. The figure next to him with one horn seemed to just sigh in annoyance at the aggression, secretly he wanted to kill Ichigo even more for the insane defeat at the soul reaper's hands. Other figures now slipped in further down the table and all showed different amounts of agreement with the first voice.

"I'm glad you're so energized. However, they have yet to enter the first circle and it will be some time before we can touch them. We shall save you for the inner circles where they'll be easily pickings" the stranger commented, leaving the other to grumble. The stranger eyed his companions thinking like a chess player, deciding on piece to play the opening move. He turned to the figure further down the table, the one who had a very tall head. The black player shall play his bishop first. "Aaroniero, how would you like meet our guests when they reach shore?"

"Very well my master, their present mental state will give me quite a stock of memories to play with. I shall deliver their half-dead bodies to you after I've had some fun with them" said Aaroniero as he stood up, revealing his head as a large cone case with several tiny openings down the middle, surrounded by a high coat collar. He vanished a moment later.

"Now that Lucifer has a new plaything and guests to entertain, we shall use the distraction to begin the revival starting with the piece that we have" the stranger indicated as he stared at the lump lying in the middle of the table, only the weak shine of metal suggested what it might be. _This prize shall be the key, with it I claim the white queen._

**-Death's Domain, Hell-**

Our heroes were now walking along a path worn away long ago, following the small flame that Moka was using to guide them. All around them was a downpour of dammed souls continued, their wailing never ending. They had been walking like this for hours, no change in the scenery, only the crunching of loose stone under their shoes breaking up the backdrop noise.

The walk wasn't totally uneventful, at almost hour intervals several death reapers in their ragged cloaks would show up from a different direction and attack. The poor hopeless souls were doomed before they even got near. Moka and Ichigo might have been emotionally worried about their friends, but seeing the same freaks that had hurt their friends was like the perfect anger management class. Ichigo didn't need to shift to his Bankai form and Moka was soon swatting them away with her arms. Daikurai only had to look into their red eyes and they would flee in the other direction. They finally got the message and none had showed up for about an hour now.

"What exactly are we looking for?" Moka asked as she angled the flame in her hand left then right, hoping to see something different. Now that the immediate rush of arriving had left her, the feeling of doubt had returned.

"It will be an ancient stone staircase that starts up here and ends down at the banks of the river Acheron. The key to finding it is that flame." Daikurai indicated the blue light in Moka's hand. "That flame is actually the source of Death's power; with it you have full control over this plateau. All you have to do is focus on what you want it to do."

"Alright, I'll give it a try." Moka closed her eyes and focused on the heat in her hand. She tried imagining a set of stairs, but she couldn't focus on details to make it real. Then she thought about Tsukune, how she wanted to see him again, to tell him how she felt and see his welcoming smile one more time. Right at that moment, the ground rumbled in front of them with sudden activity. Moka opened her eyes and saw a rectangle the area of a good-sized door appear at her shoes. The stone within the rectangle gave way in a receding pattern away from them, opening into darkness (who knew). The opposite side had smoothed black marble steps two feet long, disappear down into the hole.

"Nice work Moka, you found the way down." Ichigo said with some praise, now he could focus on moving rather than the timer ready to go off inside. "By the way, what were you thinking of the make the stairs appear?"

Moka's face flushed pale red for a second, and then she got a ticked-off look. "Nothing you need to know about you muscle-head" she hopped over the gap and headed down the stairs.

"Yup, she was thinking of something interesting" said Daikurai as he and now a visibly annoyed Ichigo followed the steps downward. _Muscle head?! Is that really the best she could think of?_

. . .

_First the fields of death were an endless trek, now these stairs are going on forever. Pointlessly long walks seem to be a specialty torture of this place._ Ichigo was personally thinking this as the group traveled down the stairs. The area beyond the stairs was dark… as usual, but now an outline of hills and mountains could be discerned. A way to them however, was not. After some time it was Ichigo who first noticed the sudden appearance of the ethereal shapes slowly rising up from below. He drew his Zanpakuto and jumped in front of Daikurai, ready for anything.

Daikurai placed a hand on the blade and calmly pushed it down. "Don't waste your energy, these guys are harmless, they couldn't do anything to us even if they wanted to" he said. The first of the shapes drew in close, it looked like a person. The body was right, but beyond that was where it got creepy. It was transparent and a bright aquamarine blue with a patch of dirty brown hanging off shoulders, possibly old clothing. The face was gaunt and withered with wrinkles from an eighty-year-old with small tufted wisps of white hair waving from its head. The sunken eyes so receded that you couldn't see them. The figure looked like he was in some sort of pain, but in an emotional sense, cringing and withering upon itself. Soon the area around the stairs was full of similar shapes, all with a silent scream plastered on their faces.

"What are they?" asked Moka as she waved her hand at one nearby shade. She jumped when it seemed to dissipate under the force of her hand. A faint wail could be heard as the shade reformed a little higher above their heads.

"They are dead souls, but not damned ones. These are the indifferent, souls of those who were neither good nor evil in how they lived. Rather, they did nothing with their lives, nothing to mark that they even existed. It is the same as if they had wasted the lives given to them, now they linger between existences, envious of all other fates." Daikurai explained the shade's poor state as he stared at one in front of him with mild interest.

"They're envious of people in Hell? That sounds crazy" Ichigo said surprised. Looking at them he couldn't help but feel troubled by their apparent 'in pain' state.

"How about this: imagine a waiting line to the greatest grand opening of a sports stadium. The thing is though, it's never going to open and you can't leave your place in line. You're stuck waiting for something that's never going to happen, ever."

"That sounds unpleasant" said Moka sadly, "and a great waste of time."

"Well, that is how they feel" said Daikurai solemnly, then he turned back to Ichigo, "and I know you're trying to think of how to help them. There is nothing we can do; they have no future or end, only an ethereal present that cannot be changed."

Daikurai turned back towards Moka and the stairs leading downward when a deep rumble of a large cat came out from ahead of them. "That, on the other hand we can deal with" Daikurai said now apprehensive of the shape coming up the stairs. The light in Moka's hand revealed a spotted leopard, all teeth and claws, its eyes glowing maliciously at the trio.

"What is that?" asked Ichigo as he aimed his sword at the creature. The feeling of power coming off it was huge, like an embodiment of malice.

"It's one of the beasts of despair, three guardians that prevent the living from entering Hell or the afterlife." The large cat started to move forward towards Moka, its paws making no sound at all. "As I recall, the leopard represents man's fraud" explained Daikurai as he took a step towards Ichigo, drawing his own sword.

"Wait, so there are two more of these?" demanded Ichigo. And as if on cue, another roar, but this time deeper and coming from behind them. It sounded like a slow moving earthquake. Ichigo whipped around and saw the reflective glow of the cat eyes as a male lion twice the normal size appeared at the light's edge.

"The lion of violence, they must really consider us a threat to send two of them here" Daikurai commented as he released his shikai into a black and a white katana. Meanwhile, Moka had not moved back from the leopard even as it got closer to the circle of light. She was tired of all her worrying and she needed to remind these demons who she was. Staring with her red eyes right back at the cat's yellow ones the silence was complete say for the wail of souls continuously floating up. Then Moka struck, with almost lightning speed she ran at the cat a kicked with everything she had. Just before the moment of contact, she felt a sudden tingle in her foot and when she focused on it her foot was suddenly covered in blue flame. The impact of her flaming kick smashed the leopard into the rock wall on her left with a definite crunch.

At the same time Ichigo and Daikurai jumped up towards the lion, which in turn let out a roar and pounced at both of them. Ichigo charge the attack head on while Daikurai rolled under and spun back up to his feet, facing the cat from behind. Ichigo charged his sword with as much spirit power as he could, and then blocked the two huge front paws in a clash of steel on steel claws. Daikurai flipped both swords in his hands downward and stabbed at the hind quarts with all his might as Ichigo released as massive blast of reishi. The resounding blast shook several stairs loose from the wall and fell into the abyss. The lion slumped to the ground, unmoving, all three fighters still standing.

But the moment of reprieve was short-lived. The leopard had pulled itself out of the wall and pounced again, nicking Moka in the arm with a shallow cut. The lion was already staggering back to its feet.

"What's going on!?" yelled Ichigo in a mix of worry and annoyance, smashing his sword into the mane of the lion, causing it to fall back down with a moan.

"These beasts are the creation of man's greatest faults; as long as fraud and war exist we cannot slay them" Daikurai said as he jumped over the lion and charged the leopard as it ran at Ichigo. Then Moka caught the spotted cat by behind and smashed her foot again over the top of its head, impacting ground with enough force to crack the obsidian.

"So we just have to crush them into submission" Moka said proudly as she stepped onto the leopards head like some conqueror.

"Yup, so we better move before they get up. Otherwise they'll keep coming at us until we fall from exhaustion" Daikurai said as he hurried to take the lead. Moka and Ichigo racing right behind him without looking back.

Their flight down the stairs remained a muffled silence other than their own footsteps. The last of the indifferent soon floated away, leaving only the color of blue from the flame Moka carried. After what seemed like an hour of sprinting they could make out some sort of terrain further down. Ichigo took the lead as he sensed the end of the stairs. At the last few steps Moka saw Daikurai stop just one step from leaving the stairs to a beach. "What is it?" she asked curious as to why he stopped.

"I sense something nearby, guarding the stairs ahead of us. It feels more powerful than anything that exists normally in the upper circles" Daikurai took the last step and stood next to the others as they too began to sense something very evil come close.

The white sand of the beach created a countershading effect that revealed the outline of a dark shape. It was on all fours and about the size of a Doberman. It seemed to sense their presence and slowly walked toward them. As it reached the edge of the circle of light the shape revealed itself as a large wolf, its shaggy fur all ragged and unkempt. It seemed to drool at the thought of meeting the three heroes, but it was the eyes that spoke volumes. They were solid neon blue that gave of small whips of blue smoke and had a piercing effect that said to read their very souls. Then just two feet away the she-wolf sat down and spoke:

"Welcome little souls, I have been expecting you."

"Who is that?" asked Moka, she felt as if her breath was slowly being pushed out of her lungs. Whatever this creature was it possessed a huge amount of dark power. _It must be the one who stole Tuskune and the others._

"Hello horn-head, I see you found a body that suits you: a lustful wolf" mocked Daikurai.

The wolf growled like it was laughing, "Oh Daikurai you always had a way with words, you never did seem to show respect. But you will soon." The wolf made a toothy grin then was suddenly pinned down by a strong hand as Ichigo slammed the beast into the soft ground. He whipped his giant blade forward and pointed it at the neck.

"Where are my friends, Lucifer" hissed Ichigo slowly, staring into those damn creepy eyes. It was a slight surprise to him that they knew who he was, but then again it was hard to mistake the voice for anyone else, sadistic and full of evil intent.

"Hmmm, Ichigo Kurosaki a human with the powers of a soul reaper" the wolf turned toward the others. "And Moka Akashiya a high quality vampire, it would appear my new pawn has delivered well beyond expectations."

"You didn't answer my question!" Ichigo yelled as he raised his sword like a meat cleaver over the wolf's head. The beast seemed unfazed by the threat and only continued to stare at Moka, causing her to shiver.

"Your precious little Tsukune is in my care, as will soon all your precious friends. I do wonder: will you be able to save them, or will you fail as you have before?" The light in the wolf's eyes intensified and gave a diabolical toothy grin. "Come to my throne in the city of Dis, let us see how many you'll lose" Lucifer laughed in a deep demonic voice that didn't fit the small form he possessed. Ichigo brought his sword down upon the wolf's neck, ending the laughter as the head rolled away and the eyes faded to dull grey. The sound of laughter lingered in the air a moment longer and then silence fell, leaving only the distant sound of waves in the background.

The silence persisted as the three stood around the severed head, the knowledge of what it had said slowly sinking in.

"What did that thing mean by having Tsukune in his possession" Moka said quietly, turning toward Daikurai. Her powers rippled just below the surface on a slow burn. If her Tsukune was in the hands of a monster, she would level anything in her way to get him back.

"He must have been transported by the reapers to Lucifer on arrival." Daikurai then noticed the rising fury like a wave coming of Moka and quickly continued, "B-but he won't kill him, not when he is the bait." It was kind of scary when Moka got mad, even Ichigo seemed to give her space.

Moka focused on calming herself, her resolve was strengthened. She now knew he was alive and where he was. She eased off her power and turned toward the sound of waves. "So, where is this 'immortal throne'" she asked.

Daikurai walked next to her and squat down near the sandy ground. "To understand that, you need to know the layout of this place." He began to draw on the white sand, a slight shift in scene and the view is looking down upon drawing. It is an animated hand-drawn sketch that forms from an invisible hand and the map is detailed like a 16th century sketch, x-marks appearing at important locations.

"Now, Hell is comprised of nine circles, each one more horrifying than the last with its own unique set of tortures for each punishable sin. We are presently at the edge of the entrance to the first circle, on the shore of the Acheron River. Tsukune is being held here in the City of Dis that makes up the sixth circle."

The scene shifts back to normal with the trio looking over Daikurai's drawing. "So, what about everyone else, where are my friends?" asked Ichigo, the thought of any of his friends being hurt was enough to make him go berserk.

"Lucifer actually made a slip-up when he mocked us, he said 'as will soon all your friends.' He hasn't found the rest of them due to the effect of the death reaper's scythe; it sends people to Hell at random locations. All we have to do is find them before he does."

"Then let's go already!" snapped Moka and she marched off into the dark to find way across the river. Ichigo charged right on after her hoping that was the right direction, leaving Daikurai to sigh and hurry after them.

"That wasn't everything guys, there's more" he called to them as he started walking behind them. "There is one more thing: the archdevils, they were the four you met back in the world of the living that kidnapped your friends. Each one is like a general and governor of specific sections of Hell and oversees everything that happens. Lilith controls the first and second circle, Beelzebub has the third and fourth, Leviathan is master of the fifth and sixth, and Azazel rules over the seventh and eighth circles."

As Daikurai was talking a light slowly began to faintly glow up ahead, the shapes of what looked like some port for a very large ship could be discern. As they got closer the light revealed a multitude of shades all scattered near the embankment of the river. Each face they saw was gaunt and shadows concealed terrified eyes. They would cringe and shake at the group's passing. Now the port could be discern from the small lanterns hanging along the walkway. The shades here were more active, slowly shuffling along in a death march of moans and wails.

Moka stood at the edge where the dock started on the beach and looked up at the darken shape of the boat. "So, I guess this is our ride across, are you sure it still floats?" she asked skeptically, placing her hands on her hips and eyeing what she considered a sinking tub. The 'boat' was huge, as tall as a three-story building and as long as an ocean cruise liner. Made entirely of withered brown wood that flexed like it was muscle and had three openings at the waterline where the lines of decrepit shades climbed aboard on rotten gangplanks.

"Yes, this is Charon's boat; he is the master of the Acheron, the one who ferries souls across the river to be judged. He's grown quite large to take on the growing demand" said Daikurai solemnly.

The front of the ship turned slowly towards them with age-old creaking and the light revealed the face of an aged man, stretching right out of the boat. His face was depicted old with missing teeth and wrinkled wood skin with faint flecks of red light glowing out of the cracks in the wood. Fire lit up his eyes that held ancient knowledge of the sinister kind. Smoke seemed to come from its mouth as he spoke; "through me the way to the city of woe, through me the way to everlasting pain." He slowly straighten back to face the river, and as he did so an orb situated just above the waterline illuminated the surrounding water in red light. The pale aquamarine color of the water rippled with the mixing of red giving it the appearance of agitation as the light reached out to the horizon.

Ichigo walked up to the dock, placed a sandaled foot on the first board, and watched as the wood crumbled to pieces for the next five planks. "Hey, what's with that? Is that considered structurally sound around here?!" he yelled as he point at the now _sinking_ wood planks. "It's made solely for souls to walk on, they don't weight much" said Daikurai.

"Or maybe he's just really fat" shrugged Moka. This caused Ichigo to get an anger tick on his face, Daikurai just laughed and headed for the rising gangplanks using the posts to travel.

With a great resounding creak of wooden boards coming off a stone wall the old ship left shore with a full load and floated to the heart of the river.

-**Charon's Boat-**

"And now we depart, I shall carry you into the fire, the cold, and the everlasting darkness. Never shall you see the light again" spoke the head of Charon's boat in that ancient voice like sandpaper of wood.

Daikurai sat cross-legged of the deck between Moka and Ichigo, who were now staring at each other like a pair of angry tigers. You could feel the air crackle between them, lightning sparks and all. _At least they're not leaving the other to become depressed,_ Daikurai considered as he watched the empty 'sky'. The river was expanding in width now, growing steadily choppier with more force starting to rock the boat.

Suddenly, with an angry grown, Charon's head twisted back to stare at them. "You there, be gone from those who are dead. I will not allow the living nor an exile to enter my realm" he roared with smoke puffing out his mouth.

"No way you old piece of rotten wood. We're here for our friends, and you are going to take us to them" said Ichigo as he marched up to face the hate-filled eyes. _Oh yeah, that sure scared him king._ His inner hollow seemed to be really getting stronger.

"Either that or I'm going to see how well you burn" said Moka. She had already released the blue flame from her right hand to emphasis the point.

"If that's so," the light in the eyes of the giant head died down, "Then I shall deal with you personally." The voice now was coming from the ground just in front of them. Like watching a tree grow in fast-forward the deck morphed and rose up until the shape of a hunched-over man in a large hooded cloak sprouted out of the ship. In his right hand he held an oar twice as tall as he was which caused the waves to rock in sync with its swaying. Charon raised a grisly old hand and point at the tree trespassers. "Perhaps if I am the one to capture you for my master I will finally be rewarded me my release," he grin under his hood and raised the oar in his hand.

"RIVER RISE!" The boat shook with a deep rumble. The Shades on deck all started running in fear in mass panic. Then huge wells of water blasted out in multiple locations right through the boat like geysers. Moka was slightly splashed and immediately started to feel the effects electricity resonate through her body, vampires don't do well in water. Ichigo grabbed her and jumped to a drier spot while Daikurai had rolled away from where he had been sitting and now kneeled towards Charon as drew his black blade.

"Moka, what's wrong" Ichigo asked as he noticed the visible cracks of electricity jumping off of her. "It's the water, I don't do well in it" Moka replied through gritted teeth, she would not be stopped by such a tiny problem. The geysers died down and returned to the river. Now Charon advanced slowly, purple energy glowing on the paddle.

"Charon is the master of this river; he may be a lesser demon but his command while here is great. Not to mention that the river Acheron sucks the vitality out of you if you get drenched in it" Daikurai said releasing Akumetsu.

Charon brought his oar down on top of Daikurai's head, but he blocked with the white blade. The purple energy was sucked away from in oar and blasted off in an exploding ring that expanded outward from the combatants. Shades were sliced down in a gush of blood and body parts. Both Daikurai and Charon smirked at each other, and then Daikurai got slammed by from a geyser of water coming up out of the river and arching from the right side of the deck.

"ARGGG" he went flying as the water pushed him off the deck, and into the river.

Ichigo helped move Moka away from the water and was trying to help dry her off when he saw the arc of water nail Daikurai. They could only watch in horror as he went over the side, followed by a silencing splash. Several more geysers of water arched over the deck in mockery.

"Now that your guide is gone you have no chance of escape. Accept your end and be joyous that it is by my hand." Charon resumed his march towards them.

Ichigo picked up his sword and stood to face the fiend. "You shouldn't have done that" he said quietly, "No one hurts my friend!" he raised his sword arm and placed his left hand on the elbow.

"Bankai!"

Ragged cloak billowing and sword in hand he charged at his fastest speed, practically teleporting in front of Charon. He swung down with rapid cuts that sliced through him like butter, but then Charon's shape dissipated and he appeared a few feet away. It was an illusion! Four blasts of water ripped through rotten wood and arced as they hit Ichigo from behind and forced him towards Charon. He then smacked the orange-haired kid in the face with his paddle, stunning him for a moment. A rapid clash of oar against sword commenced with strikes and blocks impacting in a blur of speed.

Meanwhile on the distant horizon, the shoreline on had vanished and nothing but angry water could be seen. Now large grey storm clouds were forming like a thick fog bank were blocking the boat's path, and growing closer by the minute. Lightning could be seen crackling through the front as the waves began to vigorously strike the boat. Moka had recovered enough to pull herself up to look out at the rising tempest. _This does not look good, can't get caught in that. _She looked back to the deck where Ichigo was still slicing at Charon who now looked like he was being overcome. Smack, clack, clack, clack, clang, clack, clang it went until finally Ichigo twisted his blade and got through Charon's guard. The sound of him releasing a Getsuga Tensho blast and a second later a black crescent sliced off the arm holding Charon's oar, which fell with a sickening splat, and continued right through the boat. Ichigo felt a satisfying grin touch his face, maybe now he could quickly end this and find a way to save Daikurai. _Not happening King, _said a snicker in his ear.

The eyes glowing out of the hood intensified as Charon lunged with his other good arm that had long razor claws form at the fingertips. Ichigo shifted away to the left and sliced Charon along the midriff. The ancient soul staggered a step, then two, and then his torso side off and hit the deck. When it landed however, he exploded, turning into water, leaving only a tattered cloak in a shimmering puddle. Ichigo looked to Moka, who had finally recovered, and headed towards her to the side where Daikurai had disappeared. That's when he noticed the serious swaying of the boat; they were practically leaning at 45 degree angles each time the ship tilted.

"Behind you!" yelled Moka as the water that was originally Charon began to rise up and form a human figure. Ichigo spun on his heel and charged the figure hoping to take it out before it could form.

"RIVER RISE" it yelled, and an inch from the boatman's face Ichigo was blasted by a geyser shooting out of the floorboards, socking him in the jaw. _And you almost had him too eh, king. _His inner hollow mocked as the water shot him up above the ship. Then the geyser stopped and changed shape into a giant hand, grabbing its hopeless victim, and smashing him into the deck. Ichigo was left unmoving as the true form of Charon floated towards Moka. He now looked the part of a withered old man with receded grey skin that wrapped tightly to his bones and gaunt eyes of midnight black full of hatred. His fingers and toes had formed wicked-looking claws and a pair of bat wings on his back. He wore nothing but a tattered loincloth and a necklace of skulls around his neck. With a mental nudge the oar flew through the air and back to its master's hand.

Charon looked up and noted the darkening sky. _Hmm, the storm is coming too close; I must have lost focus and sailed off course. Best to finish this up quickly or Lilith will start giving me trouble. _He cackled with cracked yellow teeth as he turned to his last guest. "So, this is the best you have to offer: little children that can't take a little water."

Now that really got Moka mad, "I can deal with you myself, you withered old wretch." Moka walked to the center of the deck, she would not allow the boys to die, not if she could help it.

"You? The little vampire? Your kind have always been weak to water, you can't even drink it" mocked Charon. Just then, the sky opened up and the rain began to fall and in moments it was a downpour. "And now it's raining" he noted as he smiled at the growing arcs of electricity jumping over Moka's body. "You look tired my dear, but don't worry I'll send you where this pain will be the least of your worries soon enough." He raised both of his hands high with the oar in his right.

"RIVER DEVORURE!" he roared and lowered his arms so they pointed forward. Five massive geysers rose up from the sides of the boat and combined above the end of the oar. The rising winds spun and swirled with the rain as all was drawn to form a water construct of a massive human skull with razor sharp teeth. It opened its mouth and on command, charged the vampire.

_Well king, if you don't get up and start killing this guy I'm going to go for the crown. _Ichigo's eyes snapped open, for once the hollow had helped out. He lifted his head just as the water construct under Charon's control reached Moka, who was too paralyzed by the rain to move.

"No!" he yelled as he sprang to his feet, but the jaws had already swallowed her. The water continued to swirl around her like a cage, trapping the vampire. Charon turned to the shinigami, "It's good to see you haven't died yet, you have humiliated me too much for a quick death. While the girl slowly drowns I'll rip you apart, and then send what's left of you to join the traitor, hopeless to save either." He raised his oar ready to unleash the entire river against the trespasser.

A massive explosion shook the keel behind Charon that caused both combatants to pause. The water that had been holding Moka was gone; her body was enveloped in blue flames. They receded and accumulated around her fists as they watched in shock.

"It can't be. That's Death's flame! No mortal can control the fire of spirits" Charon was shrieking at this point, panic causing his control of the ship to loosen even more. Moka turned toward the ferryman, her right eye became lit with the blue flame as well. To her surprise, she could see a red orb in Charon's chest, like an exposed weak point. Charon, sensing extreme danger to his existence summoned another blast of water directly at her. To everyone's surprise, she charged forward and punched the water. It instantly vaporized and the steam cleared to show her unhurt, the rain wasn't even slowing her down.

"It appears that I have become immune to water damage" she proudly said to her enjoyment of watching Charon become even more panicked. _Yay, now we can go swimming with Tsukune after this._ Moka almost groaned aloud at outer Moka's thoughts, now was not the time for that.

Ichigo took Charon's dropped guard to go for a direct attack. He jumped up high and charged his sword. He felt the dark power of his hollow reach out and his hollow mask formed around his face. It was the most recent version of it with the shape of a skinny human skull with a pointy chin, the only color were two black lines going from the top of the mask going through the eyes and down the rest of the mask.

"Getsuga Tensho!" he roared with the sound of his hollow's voice mixing in, the blast shot straight down, nailing Charon along the spine. He crashed to his knees in agony from the pain resonating from a fried nervous system. Moka focused the flames in her hands and sent them to encompass her feet, then used a new form of flash step with the flames. In a last desperate attempt to destroy the trespassers Charon rapidly called upon more water from the Acheron. Geyser after geyser rose up above the ship and transformed into giant water snakes with glowing red eyes burning right out of the water and wicked fangs that could bite a man in half. Moka continued her charge unabated as the constructs hissed and bit at her, weaving and whipping around the deck, coiling over each other in a mad dash to claim the vampire first. Another charged directly at her and at the last minute Ichigo came crashing down over its mouth, pinning it to the deck. Moka then used him as step to jump off his shoulders and climbed up the snake as it wriggled to get loose. At the highest point she leaped and with a driving kick slammed both feet into Charon's chest, right were the strange red orb was. Lightning stuck five feet away with a defining boom that lit up the moment Moka hit Charon, seeming to freeze time.

"Know your place" she said, and with that Charon blew apart, his body turning into chunks of wood that scattered everywhere in a final scream of denial.

Moka stood a moment longer over her fallen foe, and then dropped to her hands and knees, breathing heavily. Ichigo landed and felt the mask crumble away; he would need to re-learn how to use it again. He hurried over to Moka.

"Are you okay?" he asked, the flames had gone out in her eye and feet. She was shivering but no shocks appeared.

"I'm, I'm fine. Just more worried that our guide went and left us" she said through clenched teeth, but was really worried that they had no way of going forward.

"I did not" said a voice from near the railing. A pair of withered old hands appeared, a second more and the skin turned to that of a younger man. Daikurai pulled himself up and over the side and sat down next to the others.

"Sorry I took so long; the river Acheron sucks the vitality out of you, literally. That and the boat kept dipping me into it."

"Well, we can take care of ourselves. The boat probably wouldn't rock so badly if someone hadn't cut chunks out of its waterline" Moka said in her usual proud voice. For once Ichigo didn't frown at her, he was just glad she was okay after all that water.

"Well, I'm just surprise that you had so much trouble, I get holy water but any water? How do you get to school on a rainy day?" he retorted.

She paused before responding, at school it never rained so she never thought about it. She opened he mouth, but a massive wave crest over the boat and almost washed all three overboard. Some of the last shades on board went screaming into the grey water. The waves and wind were whipping up into a frenzy that had the force of a category seven hurricane. It took everything our heroes had to stay with the boat. Ichigo looked out at the direction he hoped was the far shore, and saw it.

Between the rising and falling of the boat over the waves the shape of several points of water were rising up above the waves. When they breached shiny black skin could just be made out on the closest one through the sheets of rain, barbs the size of elephants covered the side facing away from them. A cry that sounded much like a whale call echoed through the wind, and the water encircled by the points began to spin in the swirl of a whirlpool. Smaller points that looked like shark fins rose in multiple circles within the whirlpool and in the center a hole burst out of the water surrounded with serrated fangs. It was rapidly drew the boat towards the center. That's when Ichigo realized what he was seeing.

A giant mouth was swallowing the river Acheron.

"It's Charybdis, the great whirlpool" yelled Daikurai over the wailing wind, "It is the beast that Odysseus had to face on his way home." The remains of Charon's boat passed the first of the six lips of the monster's mouth. They needed to get out of there or end up becoming that thing's lunch. Ichigo helped push Moka towards the wreckage of the keel along with Daikurai. A stroke of luck, the steering was still there. All three of them grabbed on and pulled in the opposite direction of the whirlpool.

At first, it looked like it might work as they pulled out toward the edge, planks and wood flying off exposing the lower decks to the current. Then a squid tentacle wrapped around the boat and relentlessly dragged it down. Ichigo jumped up into the air and ran to the appendage. Another tentacle reached out of the water and wrapped around him, but before it could pull him down Daikurai streaked by and sliced the tentacle in two places, freeing him. They both landed on the deck where Moka ran back up from below, the water rising up the stairs behind her.

"We need to abandon ship!" shouted Daikurai.

"Yeah, like how" Ichigo yelled back.

"Jump" Moka stated as she climbed up the tentacle on deck, the other two hopped up next to her and as a team they dove for the far wall of water. The force of the whirlpool snagged them at once and spun them like they were in a washing machine. The speed they were going left them spinning so they couldn't tell which way was up or down. Ichigo tried to grab Moka's and Daikurai's hands but the force of the water drove them apart and as his vision clouded from lack of air, his last thoughts focusing on one thing.

_Orihime, I'm . . . sorry. . . I couldn't protect them. _Then he passed out, unknowing of the way the current took him.

To Be Continued . . .

* * *

**This is the longest chapter I've written for this story so far, over 9,000 words! I hope the battle scenes were up to people's standards and I apologize for any confusion when reading them. I want give special thanks to FreeTraderBeowolf and Damaio the End for all your reviews so far. Please keep sending me reivews, it's the only way I know if anyone likes my story. **

**Next time: Enter the first circle.**


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